| Early Quarry Operations |
| The Fox Company quarried an area from the present Biro Manufacturing Plant to the Island- View Subdivision near Lakeside. Today this quarry can still be seen in three areas. First being a small working quarry ledge off of Harsh Road behind Biro Manufacturing. Second site is at Harsh and Prairie Streets, in which a house is built into the once working face. The last piece of evidence is the railroad incline that runs through Island -View Subdivision towards the Lake Erie. This once supplied stone to a small dock on the waterfront. Small stone carts on narrow gauge tracks ran by gravity from the quarry to the lake, and the empty carts were hauled back using horses or mules. Horse and wagon transportation was common in all the small quarries. Extraction of stone in early operations ranged from using dynamite,to using water expanded oak or cedar wood. This wood expanding technique was applied in all Clemons and Fox quarries. It was done by drilling a hole ontop of a working face close to the edge and shoving cedar or oak branches into the hole. Next water was added to the hole and each day pressure was applied with the use of heavy poles. After a few weeks the solid face would crack and weaken. The early days most shipping was done by water, which made quarrying a fair-weather industry. In the 1880's the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway installed a Toledo to Cleveland line. This line which ran into Danbury and crossed the Sandusky Bay was the closest railroad outlet in the area. In 1887 small quarries looked at the possiblity of using efficient railroad shippingand began forming the Lakeside & Marblehead Railroad .The railroad made the connection from Marblehead to Danbury. In the mid 1880's the Kelley Island Lime & Transport Company (KIL&T) located on Kelleys Island, began to look at future quarry operations in Marblehead. A short time later the company found its way on the peninsula. |
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| Early quarrying was done by hand with large numbers of immigrants. This is Fox's quarry near Lakeside. |
| Horse and wagon was common methods of stone transportation before the railroad. |
| Before the Lakeside & Marblehead Railroad was built, numerous quarries were operating in the Marblehead area. Marblehead stone was noted for its fine fluxing capabilities, and lime making. Lime is made from the burning of limestone in a kiln oven. Lime is used in the steel, glass, and ffarming industry. The following companies were in existed during the early time period of the mid 1840's to 1890's, . Olemacher Lime Company, Clemons Sons, Clemons Brothers, Roesling, J.H. James, and Fox Stone Company. The Clemons Brothers quarry supplied stone for the Kuntz & Johnsons Kilns, which was located jointly near the present day Surf Motel. Clemons Sons also quarried and supplied stone for the Chase and Mcfall Lime Kilns, which were under independent ownership. |