Majestic stone hotels, life in an 1800s quarry camp, and Jesse James' rifle all come into the stories Lowell Johnson tells about the 140-year-old quarry he and his wife own in northwest Arkansas. Johnson appreciates the rich history surrounding the Ozark Southern Stone Quarry, but at the same time, he's taking the business into a modern, greener future by using more eco-friendly quarry practices.
People have been harvesting limestone from this quarry located near the little town of Elk Ranch - ten miles east of Eureka Springs - since around 1870, when a Civil War officer began quarrying there. It was originally deeded in 1883 as the Beaver Stone Company, owned by Benjamin J. Rosewater. Later the name was changed to the Eureka Stone Company and the quarry moved into its heyday, employing nearly 400 people in the late 1800s and early 1900s and supplying much of the area with dimensional building stone.
"There's the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, built in 1886," Johnson said. "You can still see the chisel marks that the gentlemen chiseled to make the squares. And the Basin Park Hotel, and the courthouse downtown - even some of the sidewalks. Actually about 75 percent of the town is made from stone from this quarry."
The quarry has several types of limestone - a variegated premium stone that is light and dark grey color with occasional orange dots, a sky blue stone usually used for veneer, and a "Southern Blend" of several colors. But the "Cream of the Crop" is the Navajo Cream stone, which has been sought after by masons and others since the late 1800s. The stone is so dense and hard, a sample was placed in the Smithsonian Institution.
"A 1906 study out of the University of Arkansas found that it had a crush rate of nearly 22,000 pounds per square inch," Johnson said. "The study called it some of the best limestone in the nation. Only about three percent of the limestone in the country can match that rate."
The strength of the stone made it a popular choice for buildings like the Crescent Hotel.
Left: The elegant Basin Park Hotel in Eureka Springs, AR, is an impressive example of the beautiful dimensional limestone used for masonry construction during the heyday of 19th century production at the quarry.
Above and inset: Drill holes and the marks of feathers and wedges can still be seen on quarry faces and these Crescent Hotel blocks. The newer technique of using Dexpan cleanly splits off blocks without blasting and wastes less stone. Owner Lowell Johnson stands in front of a recently worked ledge.
An article about the hotel's opening from the Eureka Springs Times Echo on May 20, 1886, specifically mentioned the stone:
"Special wagons were constructed to transport the huge pieces of magnesium limestone from the quarry site on the White River near Beaver. Due to the density of this special stone, and the precision necessary in cutting and fitting, a group of specialists from Ireland was brought here to assist and advise in construction. Mr. O'Shawnessey, the spokesman and leader of the imported group, was interviewed by this reporter before his return to Ireland. We recall that `Throughout the many years of his stoneworking, he has never encountered a stone with such density and quality as the White River Limestone.'"
The desire for this exceptionally dense stone was the reason the quarry did so well in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Not much is left of the historical structures of that era, when there were buildings for the steam-powered saws, cutting sheds, blacksmithing shops, workers' houses, stores, and bars. Johnson tells a story of Jesse James hiding his rifle in the walls of one of the bars there because he was being pursued. He said the rifle was found when the building was torn down in the 1950s.
After the Depression, the quarry did not see much use until it was re-opened in the mid1970s. Johnson and his wife, Laura, purchased the quarry in 2006. He had always had an interest in stone because his father was a stone mason.
"My father, Moses Johnson, laid stone in Boise, Idaho. I've always been intrigued by that. I thought it was awesome," Johnson said. He and his wife also love Arkansas and its many natural resources.
"My grandmother used to say `When God finished making the Earth, everything he had leftover, he threw down into Arkansas.' There is a little bit of everything here, even diamonds." When Johnson bought the quarry, he embraced its historical culture, looking over the old documents and photos he obtained. He is also going through the permit process to hold tours at the quarry because of the interest in its history.
But Johnson doesn't live in the past. He recognizes that his limestone is still a valuable resource, particularly the Navajo Cream, and makes for high quality, long-lasting buildings, fireplaces, countertops, steps, walls, and sculptures. Others are recognizing its value as well, especially since it can be shipped just about anywhere. Because the quarry was located on the railroad line a hundred years ago, some stone made its way to projects as far away as Chicago and New Jersey, but the majority of it was used in the Arkansas area. Today it is being sought by stoneworkers across the nation for public buildings, outdoor spaces, and private homes like those of entertainers Kenny Rogers and Eddie Murphy.
"Our Cream has been determined by geologists to be 500 million years old - obviously stronger than any man-made masonry," Johnson said. "If you build with this stone, it's like the castles in Europe - it'll be there for generations. We are really proud of this stone - it's beautiful."
Johnson is also going through the process of becoming a certified "green" business and uses a method of harvesting stone called Dexpan, which is much more eco-friendly than the traditional blasting with dynamite. Dexpan is a nontoxic mixture of calcium oxide, amorphous silica, and other ingredients that expands when mixed with water. It's poured into drilled holes in the rock, and after 24 hours splits the limestone slab from the bedrock. There's no blasting, hydraulic breakers, or jackhammers. A video of the process can be seen at Ozark Southern Stone's web site: www.ozarksouthernstone.com /dexpan.htm.
"Anyone who has a dimensional quarry should look at Dexpan," Johnson said. "There's no sound, it's nontoxic, no permit is needed, and you just mix it with water. You can extract stone whenever you want."
They still do a little blasting to deal with overburden, but it's more like four to five times a year rather than many times a month the old way, so their neighbors are appreciative. They are also able to extract 70 to 90 percent usable stone with Dexpan, rather than as little as 50 percent with blasting.
"There's a lot of waste with blasting because it's so violent," Johnson said.
This type of extraction is also much safer for the quarry workers. The quarry has come a long way from the methods used in the early 1900s when men pounded lines of holes with hammers and wedges and dynamited the stone out. Today Johnson can appreciate that history of a bygone time, while at the same time take the business into a greener future.
Visit http://ozarksouthernstone.com for more information on Ozark Southern Stone Quarry.
The Crescent Hotel was possibly one of the first large-scale projects to use blocks from the old Beaver Stone Company, in the 1880's. This magnificent old building is reportedly haunted.
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