Michigan Limestone and Chemical Company facts for kids
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| Public company | |
| Industry | Manufacturing, Mining |
| Founded | 1912 |
| Headquarters | Rogers City, Michigan, U.S. |
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Key people
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board of directors |
| Products | Chemicals, Mineral Products, and other Specialized Products and Services |
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Number of employees
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160 (2008) |
The Michigan Limestone and Chemical Company ran the world's largest limestone quarry. A quarry is a big open pit where rocks are dug out of the ground. This huge quarry is near Rogers City in Presque Isle County, Michigan. It's also known by names like "Calcite Quarry" and "Carmeuse Lime and Stone."
The company started in 1910, but they began digging limestone in 1912. The quarry's ownership has changed over the years. However, it is still one of the biggest limestone producers in the United States. This quarry was very important for shipping limestone by boat on the Great Lakes and by train.
The limestone dug from this quarry is found underground. It's in the northeastern part of Northern Michigan, near Alpena. It's also south of Rogers City, right along the shore of Lake Huron. This raw material is super important for many industries. It's used for things like building roads, making cement, and helping to make iron and steel. It's also used for agricultural lime to help farms, and even to make sugar!
Contents
History of the Limestone Quarry
In 1909, a mining expert named Henry H. Hindshaw from New York City began studying limestone in northern Michigan. He checked out land between Rogers City and another quarry called Crawford's Quarry. In February, Hindshaw took samples for the Solvay Process Company.
The limestone samples were very good quality. So, the company decided to buy all the land along the Lake Huron shore near Rogers City. Hindshaw then met William F. White, an investor. White was very interested in developing the limestone business.
Hindshaw first thought the limestone could be used for building materials. But he soon realized it was even more valuable for its chemical composition. This meant it was useful for making other products.
Limestone is a key raw material for many industries. It's used for road building, cement, and in making iron and steel. Hindshaw found that the limestone near Rogers City was very pure. Its high quality and large size, plus easy water transportation, made it perfect for a big quarry and port. Both the quarry and port were named "Calcite." This name comes from calcite, which is the main ingredient of limestone.
The Calcite Quarry Today
This quarry is the largest limestone quarry in the world. It is about 4 miles long and 1.5 miles wide. That's about 8,924 acres! Huge loader vehicles work here. They can carry up to 195 tons (390,000 pounds) in one truck. The tires on these trucks are 13 feet tall!
Today, the quarry and plant are owned by Carmeuse Lime and Stone. About 115 people work there. Some people describe the quarry as a "man-made Grand Canyon." This is because it's more than 150 feet deep.
The quarry digs up limestone and dolomite. These are ancient rock layers that are part of the "Michigan Basin." This open pit mine has been running for over 110 years since 1912. It mines deposits that are 350 million years old! So far, it has shipped over 750 million tons of limestone. The company believes there's enough limestone left for another 100 years of mining.
The quarry is so big it can be seen from space! There's even a famous astronaut photo of it. A documentary film about the quarry won an Emmy Award. The film's director said it's a "human story." The limestone from this quarry helped build the Mackinac Bridge and the interstate highway system across the nation. It's also used in many everyday items.
The Detroit and Mackinac Railway built a train line to Rogers City in 1911. Trains have been used inside the mine since before 1926. Today, the quarry's railroad is serviced by the Lake State Railway.
Rogers City created a landmark to celebrate the quarry's 100th birthday. It includes a mural made of outdoor tiles. The mural shows the different layers of rock dug from the quarry.
The United States Army and Air Force sometimes use the quarry area for training exercises.
This quarry produces high-quality limestone. It ships between 7 and 10.5 million tons each year. The operation makes nine different sizes of limestone products. These can be mixed to meet different needs.
The Company's Beginnings
The Michigan Limestone and Chemical Company was started in 1910. William White and other investors bought 5,000 acres of land with lots of limestone. Before this, the lumber industry was the main business in Rogers City. But by the early 1900s, most of the trees were cut down. So, the limestone company began building its mining facilities.
William White, who lived in New York City, became the company's first president. The company officially started on May 26, 1910. The Calcite port and quarry began operations in June 1910. Henry Hindshaw was the first general manager.
Carl D. Bradley took over as general manager in 1911. He oversaw the building of the limestone processing factory. This included a powerhouse, a stone crusher, and a harbor for loading ships. They bought steam shovels for digging and steam locomotives to move the stone.
The company built a 14-mile train track to connect the Calcite operations to the main Detroit & Mackinac Railroad line. Limestone production started in early 1912. The first shipments of stone left by steamer freighters in June of that year. The company received many more orders than they expected!
Most of the limestone was shipped on lake freighters to steel mills. These mills were located along the Great Lakes in cities like Detroit and Cleveland. For many years, the biggest customer was United States Steel (U.S. Steel). Later, new uses for the limestone were found in farming, construction, and chemical industries. The Rogers City area grew as the Calcite plant expanded. Within 20 years, the Rogers City quarry was the world's largest limestone producer.
U.S. Steel Ownership
United States Steel Corporation was the first big customer. Even before the company officially formed, White and his partners talked to steel companies. They knew if they built a huge quarry, customers would be waiting. U.S. Steel signed a contract within months of the company starting.
U.S. Steel later bought most of Michigan Limestone in 1920. At that time, the company was producing 1,000 tons of crushed limestone every day.
Carl Bradley became president of Michigan Limestone. He also led the company's fleet of self-unloading ships. These ships were part of the Bradley Transportation Company. When Bradley died in 1928, U.S. Steel bought both companies. They became subsidiaries (smaller companies owned by a larger one) of U.S. Steel. In 1951, the Rogers City operations became a division of U.S. Steel. The company is still a major employer in northern Michigan, though its ownership has changed several times.
Uses of Limestone
The limestone from Michigan Limestone is a white chemical called calcium carbonate. It's very pure, with low amounts of other elements. Steel mills add limestone to molten iron in blast furnaces. It helps remove impurities when making steel.
Limestone is also widely used to make cement. When limestone is heated to very high temperatures (up to 2300 degrees Fahrenheit), it creates pure lime. Lime is used in many products, like paints, sugar, glass, baking powder, and ammonia. It's also used to make chemicals like soda ash and for softening water. Limestone was even used to fill the caissons that support the Mackinac Bridge.
Crushed limestone is used in farming to help plants grow. Over time, farming can make soil acidic. Crops don't grow well in acidic soil. Crushed limestone, also called agricultural lime, helps balance the soil. This allows plants to absorb more nutrients through their roots. While lime isn't a fertilizer, it works well with fertilizers. It can also help land used for farm animals. Calcium is important for bone growth in animals. Farmers often use agricultural lime because it can help increase milk production in dairy cows.
Limestone is also a key ingredient for making white sugar from sugar beets. Michigan is a very large producer of beet sugar.
Self-Unloading Ships
Between 1912 and 1917, Michigan Limestone and Chemical Company built three "revolutionary" ships. They were named SS Calcite, SS W.F. White, and SS Carl D. Bradley. These ships were special because they were "self-unloading" ships. This meant they could unload their own cargo without needing special equipment at the dock.
In 1912, the company built its first steamship, the SS Calcite. It was much bigger than the first modern self-unloader on the Great Lakes, the SS Wyandotte (built in 1908). The Calcite carried limestone from Rogers City to places like Buffalo, New York. The ships W.F. White and Carl D. Bradley were built in the following years. All these ships had grey hulls. This helped hide the limestone dust that would get on them during loading and unloading.
The design of these early ore carrier self-unloaders is similar to today's ships. The cargo hold (where the limestone is stored) has sloping sides. These sides lead down to a conveyor belt at the bottom of the ship. Gates can be opened to let the limestone fall onto the belt. This belt carries the material up to another belt, which then goes up a long "boom" on the ship's deck. This boom swings out over the side of the ship to unload the limestone directly onto the customer's dock. This system saves money because docks don't need expensive unloading machines.
As the company grew, it built more self-unloading ships. After 1920, these ships were operated by the Bradley Transportation Company. They were known as the Bradley boats or the Bradley fleet. Today, self-unloaders still carry limestone from the Calcite plant to industrial ports all around the Great Lakes. Sadly, the SS Carl D. Bradley was lost in a storm in November 1958. It was returning after delivering limestone. 33 of the 35 crew members died, many from Rogers City. It was a terrible loss of life for the lake freighter fleet.
Ships like the SS Carl D. Bradley would haul limestone to steel mills in places like Gary, Indiana.
Visiting the Quarry
The company offers tours of the quarry every year. These tours often happen during Rogers City's annual Nautical City Festival. During the tour, people can see the giant equipment used at the plant up close. It really shows how big the operation is!
The Calcite Operation is one of 28 production facilities that Carmeuse owns in North America. It's also one of 94 facilities the company has worldwide. The plant digs, processes, and ships limestone using freighters on the Great Lakes. These freighters take the raw materials to their next destination. As of 2019, over 915 million tons of limestone have been shipped from the quarry. The busiest year for production was 1953, with 16.6 million tons shipped.
In the past, leftover materials were dumped into the lake. But now, they are used in helpful ways. It would take 4,000 wheelbarrows to fill the largest truck at the facility. It takes 12 hours to fill a freighter with limestone!
There are good viewing points around the quarry.
This site is part of a larger history of limestone mining in Michigan. For example, the Mill Creek Quarry opened near Mackinaw City, Michigan in 1912. That site is now part of the Michigan state parks system.
There is a Michigan State Historic Site historical marker at a viewing point overlooking the Michigan Limestone and Chemical Company facilities.
See also
- Alabaster Historic District
- Exercise Northern Strike
- List of types of limestone
