Those beautiful stones. A pile of discarded grindstones sitting along Bramblewood Heights, outside Marietta Ohio. For over 150 years, the grindstone business thrived in Washington County. The local industry began in the 1820s, supplying settlers, lumbermen, and the thriving edge-tool trade. During the early years, grindstones were quarried and hauled by oxen to the Ohio River where they were loaded on flatboats to go downriver or were loaded on steamboats to go upriver. By the late 1850s, rail transport reached Washington County and replaced the majority of water transport services for the grindstones. Ephraim and Will Cutler were among the earliest Washington County citizens to quarry grindstones and both owned a small quarry at Constitution Ohio, near Marietta. The Cutler operation was growing rapidly when Michael J. OConnor purchased the quarry and renamed it the Constitution Stone Company. The Constitution Stone Company closed in 1970, one year shy of its 100th anniversary. The decline and end of the business came when synthetic abrasives became more efficient than sandstone grindstones at high metal grinding speeds. Up until the 1960s, Ohio produced over 90 percent of the 4.5 million tons of sandstone grindstones produced in the U.S.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 02:04:37 +0000
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