New England Cement Company Kiln and Quarry facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
New England Cement Company Kiln and Quarry
|
|
View of the quarry site
|
|
 Location in Connecticut
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | West Bishop conservation land off Litchfield Turnpike, Woodbridge, Connecticut |
|---|---|
| Built | 1847 |
| NRHP reference No. | 00001454 |
| Added to NRHP | April 25, 2001 |
The New England Cement Company Kiln and Quarry is a special historical site in Woodbridge, Connecticut. It's like an old factory where people used to make cement a long time ago. The site has two main parts: a stone kiln, which was a big oven for processing rocks, and a quarry, which is a pit dug by hand to get the rocks. This place shows us how industries worked way back in 1847. The kiln you can still see today was built in 1874.
Contents
Making Cement in New England
What Was the New England Cement Company?
The New England Cement Company started its work in 1847. Its goal was to make cement from local rocks. Cement is a very important material. It is used to hold bricks and stones together in buildings. The company built a large stone furnace, called a kiln. Workers would put rocks from the nearby quarry into this kiln. They hoped to melt the rocks down to create fine cement.
Why Did the Cement Business Fail?
There are different ideas about why the New England Cement Company stopped working. Some people in modern times believe the local rocks were not good enough. They think the cement made here was not strong or useful. One story even says the first batch of cement was dumped into the harbor.
However, an older account from 1895 tells a different story. Nehemiah D. Sperry, who was a U.S. Congressman, grew up near the area. He visited the site and said the cement was actually good. He believed the business failed for two main reasons:
- Cement was a very cheap product at the time.
- It cost too much money to transport the heavy cement to New Haven, Connecticut.
Sperry even thought that if an electric road (like a train line) came through, the business might become successful again. This shows that transportation costs were a big problem for many businesses back then.
A Historic Landmark
Even though the company didn't last, the New England Cement Company Kiln and Quarry is still important. It helps us understand early American industry. The site was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. This means it is recognized as a significant historical place. It is now protected so future generations can learn from it.
