ATHENS MARBLE AND THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION OF MIDWESTERN SILURIAN BUILDING STONES

Silurian dolomite strata have long been an important source of construction materials in the central United States. Beginning in the early 1800s, numerous quarries were opened in these rocks to produce high-quality building stone, lime, or crushed stone.

Among the earliest and most important of these products was the building stone derived from a specific group of stratigraphically related rock units, including the Racine Dolomite (Wisconsin), Sugar Run Dolomite (Illinois), Laurel Limestone (Indiana, Kentucky), and Springfield Dolomite (Ohio). These time-equivalent (Wenlock) rocks had similar depositional histories in shallow, quiet-water marine settings, resulting in similar physical characteristics. All are hard, even-textured, thick-bedded and well-bedded, making them an excellent source of building stone.

Fortuitously, some of the best sources of these rocks were situated near rapidly growing Midwestern metropolitan centers or had access to inexpensive transportation systems. The most prominent quarries were opened in Illinois where “Athens Marble” from Lemont and Joliet, both located on the Illinois & Michigan Canal, was used extensively in Chicago; Grafton, situated on the Mississippi River, supplied this stone to the St. Louis area. Quarries in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio produced the same stone for more local markets. With the construction of railroads, the Lemont - Joliet quarries became the largest source of dolomitic building stone in the Midwest during the mid 1800s, and this stone became the first regional commercial “limestone” of the area.

By the end of the nineteenth century, however, the use of this rock had diminished greatly for a variety of reasons, including: 1) introduction of Portland cement; 2) growing use of Mississippian building stone from Indiana; 3) increased labor costs; and 4) changing construction methods. Although most of the original quarries long have been abandoned, many historic buildings constructed of this rock remain, which have greatly impacted the architectural character of many communities.

The only surviving segment of this industry is the production of “Lannon Stone” in Wisconsin. Shipped across the country, in recent years, it has become an important decorative “limestone.”