Hewson Peeke wrote in his book A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio, about the limestone underlying the ground in Sandusky and the Lake Erie Islands region. In Sandusky, the upper portion of stone is corniferous limestone, which is bluish in color and found in thin strata. The stone quarried at Marblehead and Kelleys Island is lower in the ground than the corniferous limestone, and lighter in hue.
Ellie Damm wrote in her book Treasure
by the Bay that many limestone mansions were built in Sandusky between 1834
and 1872. The stone for most of these buildings was quarried near the building
sites. It is thought that the stone for Grace Episcopal Church and the Oran
Follett House was quarried in the area of the triangular park at the corner of
Wayne Street, Huron Avenue, and East Adams Street.
At one time, Sandusky and
the Lake Erie Islands region were dotted with quarries, many which were filled
in and used as building sites. There
were lime kilns in Marblehead and in Sandusky in the 1800s.
Charles Schoepfle had a quarry on the west of
Hancock Street, south of McKelvey Street in the 1890s. Here is a receipt for
items purchased by Jay Bogert from Charles Schoepfle.
In 1893 Michael
Wagner established the Wagner Quarries, now a part of Lehigh Hanson. This post
card created by Ernst Niebergall shows Wagner Quarry employees in 1926, at
Plant Number 2.
Below is an aerial photograph of the Wagner Quarry
in Perkins Township, taken by Thomas Root in 1950; it is still operating today.
Limestone and
crushed stone quarried and processed from Erie and Ottawa Counties continue to
provide needed materials for the construction of roads, highways, businesses,
and homes in our area and beyond. This
area is fortunate to have so many natural resources, including the limestone
bedrock as well as a natural harbor from which the stone can be transported to
where it is needed. To read more about
the geology of Erie County, see A
Standard History of Erie County, Ohio by Hewson L. Peeke and History of Erie County, Ohio, edited by
Lewis Cass Aldrich, both available at Sandusky Library.