Mance: Quarry Industry of Southern Indiana 



53 



worked at any other point in the district. The newer openings 

 farther north have less stripping, but the thickness of the stone is 

 considerably less. 



Bedford District. The city of Bedford has long been the 

 center of the Indiana limestone industry. It is located near the 

 center of the older part of the stone belt and at the present time 

 is the home of more stone mills and handles more cut stone than all 

 the rest of the stone belt. 



Three quarries and 18 mills are in active operation in and 

 around the city. They are as follows: Ingalls Stone Company, 

 McLaren Mill; Ingalls Stone Company, Main Mill; Reed Stone 

 Company, Mill "A"; J. P. Fait Stone Company; Ingalls Stone 

 Company, Climax Mill; John Rowe Cut Stone Company; Furst- 

 Kerber Stone Company; Shea and Donnelly; Bedford Cut Stone 

 Company; Bedford Steam Stone Works; Indiana Quarries Com- 

 pany, Salem Mill; Henry Strauble Stone Company; Morton 

 Brooks Stone Company; Consolidated Stone Company; W. 

 McMillan and Sons Stone Company, Hoosier Mill; Bedford 

 Stone and Construction Company; Stone City Cut Stone Com- 

 pany; E. F. Giberson and Company; Bedford Stone and Con- 

 struction Company, Quarry; Imperial Stone Company, ''Blue 

 Hole Quarry"; Norton Stone Company, Quarry. 



All the mills mentioned above are located in the city of Bed- 

 ford and are grouped along the railroads. There are 3 quarries. 



The Bedford Stone and Construction Company's quarry is 

 located about 2 miles east of the city. The same company 

 operates a mill at the edge of the city. The quarry yields 4 

 floors of a fine grade of stone. In all, 54 feet of usable stone 

 is being removed. Half of the lower floor is of blue stone, but 

 the line of parting of the buff and blue stone is fairly regular so 

 that only a small amount of mixed stone results. The stripping 

 consists of about 5 feet of dirt and 2 feet of much disintegrated 

 Mitchell limestone. The mud seams are not opened badly by 

 weathering at this point where the present operations are going 

 on. There appears to be a large amount of good stone in sight and 

 a great amount of good stone is still available in the quarry. 



The quarry operated by the Imperial Stone Company is 

 the quarry that has always been known under the name of the 

 ''Blue Hole" quarry. It is located in the eastern edge of the 

 city of Bedford. Tais quarry is one of the oldest quarries in the 

 stone belt. It was first opened by Nathan Hall in the early 'six- 



