Griggsville Landing Lime Kiln facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Griggsville Landing Lime Kiln
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 Location in Illinois
Location in the United States
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| Nearest city | Valley City, Illinois |
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| Area | 0.2 acres (0.081 ha) |
| Built | c. 1850 |
| Architectural style | Periodic Lime Kiln |
| NRHP reference No. | 99000974 |
| Added to NRHP | August 30, 1999 |
The Griggsville Landing Lime Kiln is a historic oven located near Valley City, Illinois in Pike County. This special type of oven, called a lime kiln, was used to make a material called quicklime. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which means it's recognized as an important historical site in the U.S. It was added to this list in August 1999.
The kiln is found inside the Ray Norbut State Fish and Wildlife Area. It is a great example of an 1850s lime kiln and is one of the best-preserved ones from that time. In the past, this kiln produced quicklime, which was used for building and farming. The Griggsville Landing Lime Kiln is one of twelve important historical places in Pike County on the National Register. Other examples include the Lyman Scott House in Summer Hill and the New Philadelphia Town Site near Barry, Illinois.
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What Was Griggsville Landing?
The lime kiln is about a quarter-mile north of a place once known as Griggsville Landing. This "Landing" was a busy stop for steamboats on the Illinois River, starting in the 1830s. It had a warehouse, a boat repair area, a hotel, and a mill for grinding grain.
The lime kiln was part of a business that did well when steamboats stopped at Griggsville Landing. After the American Civil War, the way lime was made changed. It became more like big factories, so smaller operations like this one became less common.
History of the Kiln
The Griggsville Landing Lime Kiln is one of the best-preserved old lime kilns in Illinois. We don't know the exact year it was built. However, experts believe it was likely constructed in the mid-1850s.
People in the area say that an English stonemason named William Hobson used this kiln. It is believed Hobson used the lime from this kiln to help build homes, barns, and stone arch bridges in the area during the 1800s.
How Kilns Worked
The kiln at Griggsville Landing is known as a periodic kiln. This type of kiln technology was mostly used in the United States before the Civil War. It was a much better way to make lime compared to even older methods like "heap kilns."
Simple Heap Kilns
A heap kiln was a very basic way to make lime. It was made by stacking layers of wood (for fuel) and limestone blocks. These layers were placed on the ground or in a pit. This method was quick but wasted a lot of fuel.
Because of these problems, heap kilns were mainly used when people were clearing land. It was hard to control the heat in these log heaps. The lime made this way was often not very good quality. It was mostly used as fertilizer for farms. By 1818, better kilns were already replacing heap kilns in cities.
Better Periodic Kilns
The periodic kiln became popular as heap kilns were used less. Periodic kilns were much more efficient than the old log heap kilns. The best type of periodic kiln was a tall, vertical oven with stone or brick walls.
The kiln at Griggsville Landing is this kind of vertical kiln. It has an opening at the bottom and another at the top. Its walls are nearly three feet thick. The walls look like they were built without much cement, or with mud that has worn away over time. The walls of this vertical kiln rise 17 feet above the ground. The inside of the kiln is about 13 feet wide.
Other Old Lime Kilns
The Griggsville Landing Lime Kiln is one of only a few old lime kilns still standing in Illinois. You can find other examples in different places:
- In Maeystown, there is another periodic vertical kiln.
- At Kankakee River State Park in Will County, you can see parts of an old lime kiln in a limestone quarry.
- In Ogle County, near Polo, there is a stone kiln.
- There's a poorly preserved vertical kiln in Port Byron.
- A well-preserved kiln can be found in Cordova, Illinois.
