The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1891-12-08
McENROES QUARRY.
II is said to Possess the Finest
Quality of Building Stone in
the County.
Examined by Experts, they De-
clare it only Needs Proper De-
velOpment TO Make it a
Nine of Wealth.

There is a mine OF wealth within
almost "a stones throw" Of
Sedalia, where it has been buried for
centuries, and its existence, although |
discovered last spring, is yet unknown
to the great majority Of the people OF
the Queen City.
The mine of wealth consists of a
huge deposit of rock formation under
meath the earth's surface, about three
miles northeast of the city. The rock,
or, more properly termed, stone, con-
sists of several district grades, all OF
limestone foundation, yet ranging
from the blue colored to the layers
sparkling with quarlz and teldspar,
which resemble and are as hard as
the granite taken from The rOck-ribbed
hills of Vermont.
The exposure of this valuable de-
post must be credited to two factors
first, the building of st. Patrick's
Catholic church, and second, the en-
terprise of Patrick McEnroe. When
it was decided to build new Catholic
church, Mr.. McEnroe thought of the
ledge of stone north of the city and
he decided to investigate it thorough
Ily. Some years before, his attention
had been called 10 the durability OF
the stone crossing which he had put
| in at Third and Engineer streets, and
, which had been taken from the out
cropping of what is now known as
McEnrSe's quarry, and he thought
there might be enough COED stone to
furnish material for church.
To his surprise he found not only
stone in sufficient qua .tity to build
one church. hut enough to construct
> thousand cathedraIs, and of a quail
: ity superior in every respect to any
!. building stone in the country, not
excepting the products of the quar-
l ries Of B. dford, Ind. Portland, Conn,
| Warrensburg or Springfield, Mo
Realizing the value of his find, Mr.
McEnroe secured the ownership o.
thirteen acres of land in which the
quarry is located and at once notified
: the .St. Patrick church builders
e that he would furnish them, free OF
[ charge, all the Stone required for the
| new church. ~,
The face of the quarry is some SOC
2 feet in length and in height from
t thirteen to thirty feet. Immediatel!.
. in front of the derrick there is sole
t ledge Of rock thirteen feet thick, OF 1
quality almost as hard as granite
: while underneath the derrick Is
v ledge of rock reaching to the level O
n the bed of Cedar creek, a distance o
, not less than twenty five feet. Th
g present exposure of The rock gives tn
}. visitor to the quarry but faint ide
r of the extent and valuable nature Q
the deposit.
The quality of the stone, however,
}. OF tie utm 81 interest t. The geol' gis
e the stone mason and to all builders
II building foundations and pavement
). There are three kinds or grades,
'e the limestone found in the QUAR-!
t. First and foremost is the grade viii,
e comes so near being a granite that th
It sembIance of the limestone foundatio
It is only recognizable by the export.
n can be polished after the same manne
l. as granite and presents as smooth
r surface and almost as brilliant a fl
70 ish. This st me on account OF Its H.
he grain, can be worked up into cubes
d any size and would make the fiue:
he paving in the world, if cut up iii
lr the size of Belgian blocks, and woul
d, be far superior and more durable tha
ID verified brick-and at the same tin
r. much cheaper. 1t is now being use
'e for the finishing courses Of found
Ill tions.
es Another grade is the foundatic
e, rock, an almost free limestone, viii,
~ Can b. easily dressed. The b auty
ne this stone is practically illustrated
Is the foundation of tine Equitable bull
Is ing 1t the corner of Fourth and l.
II mine streets, aud while hundreds ha'
admired the foundation, perhaps n
a half a dozen of them questions
where the excellent material WI
= secured.
= The remaining grade is blue lin
stone, which is far superior to Wa
y, rensburg, and Bedford, Ind, stone I
80 all kinds of building purposes.
VIC must be taken too out of the quar-
- however, during the summer, spril
~ and fall and lie allowed to seaso
~ Like alIpurely free limestone, if tax
"a a out in winter the sap it contains
" freezing causes it to scale. But d.
e, ing a summers seasoning it becom
'n' as hard as cast-iron and on account
IA its beautiful color will become q m
'o' desirable building stone.