Montana oil and mining journal., 1942-12-12
BILLINGS SCRAP
PILE CLAIMS OLD
PLANT EQUIPMENT
MILL OF HEFF r STONE
QUARRY DTSBFANTLED AND
GTvEN TO UNCLE SAM

was BlllmgS IuSb INDUSTRY mas Deen
tossed onto the scrap pile to help
beat the axis. Work of dismantling
the min of the old Heffner stone
quarry at the base Of the rimrocks
has been finished.
The heavy machinery, used for
years to turn out a useful product
and to provide work for men, yielded
more than 35 tons Of what Uncle Sam
wants right now-scrap iron and
steel.
Describing the Heffner quarry as
Billings first industry might be called
a technical error. The quarry Was
there first, G. j. Heffner, son Of the
founder, says. When Billings was laid
out and the first settlers moved in
several months after the quarry
started operations, the new city al
ready had q going concern. For years
the quarry had q substantial pay roll.
It shipped its product-high quality
grayish-colored sandstone-to points
far distant from Billings or delivered
the material to the lots where the
rapidly growing town was taking form.
Opening Of the Heffner quarry full
filled the ambition of William H
Heffner, pioneer scout and freighter.
to acquire his own business. When the
Northern Pacific railroad was being
built west across Montana, Heffner
was in the employ Of the government
as q sawmin operator. He handled the
cutting of lumber for buildings at old
Fort Custer and other government
stations. In 1881 the sawmin was
operating at Cou1son, the now-defunct
town two miles to the east, which was
Billings predecessor. Logs were floated
down the Yellowstone river from as
far upstream as Livingston. They were
sawed at Coulson, and the lumber was
shipped 10 railhead at Miles City by
steamboat.
Several railroad officials took an in
terest In Heffner's proposal to open
a stone quarry output of which would
provide tonnage when the line reached
this far west. Tests we're made Of
sandstone at several points. That at
the site later chosen for the quarry
was pronounced best. The land was
railroad-owned, and Heffner pur-
chased from the company an 60-acre
strip extending from the present 10
cation of TWenty-seventh street to
what now Is Virginia lane. The de-
posits selected for quarTying extended /
500 feet from east to west and 1000
feet back toward the base of the
rimrocks. A large spring was available |
to supply water for the plants boilers
and for use in stone-cutting opera
lions.
The tests showed that the stone
from the deposit would not crumble
under fire and that weathering har-
dened 1t instead of causing disintegra-
ton
The machinery for the new quarry
came In among the first shipments
lmloaded at Coulson after the railroad
reached that town Aug. IL, 1882. The
saws, planes and other equipment
were setup in the log building, which
stands Just west Of 9th street ON
Rimrock drive. In the earlier years
Heffner had several partners success
sively. Later he acquired the entire
property and operated the business
until i'll health forced him to suspend
work in 1906, year before his death.
He supervised and worked at every
phase of the quarry's operations, and
his figIre-265 pounds without an
ounce of fat'-was familiar to resi- ,
dents of the city.
@. j. Heffner recalls that his father
at times employed as many as 80 men
In the summers. Ten or IL teams we're
kept busy hauling the cut stone to a i
loading dock which stood on the pres
snt site of the Billings Hardware Co.
wholesale building between 9th street !
and Broadway on the tracks. -Four
carloads of stone day was not an
unusual shipment. The stone was In .
demand in Minneapolis and st. Paul !
IS wen as intermediate points, and :
iome was shipped to Chicago. 1t was :
lsed in the walls of many public and
business buildings and for founda-
ions. sills and trim in structures of
,rick or frame. Much Of the Billings {
andstone also was shipped to Butte l
md Helena, and some of 1t was used
n the state capitol Building.
The Yellowstone county courthouse l
nd the Parmly Billings Memorial Il
library are built of stone from the
4effner quarry, and the stone was
sed in foundations, ornamental trim
nd sills in a number of local schools
nd churches. The Security Trust 81 b
Iavings bank building, the former II
yegen Bros. building on Minnesota u
venue and the old First National c.
ank building, now occupied by Inc p
gazette, are business structures built "
I the stone. An example Of the dIra- "
ility Of the Billings sandstone IS TO 81
e seen in a sidewalk at the south Il
rest intersection of Fourth avenue =
orth and North 30th street. The walk a
xtends along both streets. When the Il
abs were laid, it is said, most Of the d'
ther walks in the neighborhood, in ei
Iuding pedestrian passages across the p
irt or mud) streets, were Of boards. Il
few places in. the stone walk have NJ
cen patched with concrete, and 1t e.
ill is In serviceable condition. XII
@. j. Heffner says that In the old di
ays when a blast was set off at the m
larry it would dislodge enough stone
, load many flatcars. The chunks, D
,me weighing asmuch as 20 tons, vi
len were cut to sizes specified by ps
'ders. til
The saws were set at intervals de- hi