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Chase County Kansas Historical Sketches

1863 - 2003





QUARRIES

The pioneers made their homes of wood - log cabins - not making much use of stone because securing stone was a much longer process than felling trees.

John Emslie of Leavenworth opened a quarry of fine magnesium limestone on Isaac Alexander's land on Spring Creek just west of the town site about 1870. Our Courthouse was built of this stone and stone used in the State Capitol Building at Topeka was from Chase County.

Many of the buildings at Fort Riley were built of this stone. Chicago has used a great deal of Chase County limestone, as has San Francisco. Railroad bridges and bridges on wagon roads were strongly built of it. When the Eisenhower Library was to be built as Abilene, the architect ordered the stone to come from Chase County.

One reason this stone was preferred over other stone was that it is a very hard stone - strong and slow to deteriorate when exposed to the weather; It is a very beautiful stone and is easy to cut and dress.

Patrick J. Norton who had been bookkeeper and pay-master for the Barney Lantry Stone Contracting and Building Company, Strong City, was also in the stone business for himself. He developed the quarry southeast of Cottonwood Falls, and furnished stone for the City School building in Cottonwood Falls, the City Auditorium in Strong City; he also furnished stone for two bridges over the Missouri River in Missouri - one at Sibley and the other at Kansas City. Stone for the east wing of the State Capitol was from his quarry. He operated this quarry for 35 years.

Pioneers had to make their own lime for building purposes, so lime kilns were built, one of which was on the Barrett farm east of Cottonwood Falls.

Chase County Centennial, 1872 - 1972




Chase County Submitted Historical Sketches
compiled and abstracted from the Chase County Courant, Chase County Leader, other sources and newspapers
by Lorna Marvin
Please submit your historical sketches.


Return to Chase County Submitted Historical Sketches


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