“MARBLE” QUARRYING IN SOUTHWESTERN MISSOURI: THE STORY OF THE CARTHAGE AND PHENIX QUARRIES, ONCE SOME OF THE LARGEST DIMENSION-STONE QUARRIES WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER

Southwest Missouri once boasted that it had the largest dimension-stone quarries west of the Mississippi River. These are the quarries of the Carthage area in east-central Jasper County and the Phenix quarry in northwest Greene County. These areas historically have stood out as producers of building stone and polished limestone slabs. Mississippian limestones were utilized in both: Phenix quarried the Osagean Burlington-Keokuk limestones (undivided), and Carthage Marble quarried the younger Meramecian Warsaw Formation. Large-scale quarrying began in the 1880s, initially for lime and exterior stone.

Carthage stone originally was used for exterior construction, with the first use just after the Civil War for paving material and trim. Phenix stone was primarily an interior stone, but also was used for some exterior construction, including larger buildings such as the Greene County Courthouse (ca. 1915), statuary, and mausoleums. It was also used as stone facing for houses in Springfield. Polished slabs of Carthage and Phenix stone were being produced by 1910, after quarriers realized the potential of these materials. By the 1950s the Carthage Marble Company employed ~350 people. Large-scale production of stone from the Carthage and Phenix quarries ended by the late 1900s, but previously cut stone blocks continue to be used to the present day.

Stone from the two quarry areas are quite similar in appearance, generally contain similar fossils (pelmatozoan columnals, brachiopods, etc.), and may or may not be stylolitic. The stylolitic surfaces in both formations are typically parallel with bedding, but the thickness and amount of organics in the sutures is quite variable. When used as polished decorative stone, Carthage and Phenix stone can be difficult to distinguish, but Phenix stone tends to be closer to pale yellowish brown, whereas Carthage stone varies from medium light gray to light olive gray.

The Carthage Marble Corporation was noted for the production of its “Marble of the Month.” These were 3-by-5-inch samples of a wide variety of stones, domestic and imported, accompanied by illustrated descriptive sheets. These samples and the accompanying sheets remain invaluable in identifying stone used for structures.