Independent Limestone Company; Railroads; Quarries and quarrying; Dimension stone
A view of a railway line running right through the quarry. Quarry developers were ever mindful of location when selecting a site--while they could utilize existing state and federal tracks, they were responsible for financing the construction of...
Independent Limestone Company; Quarries and quarrying; Dimension stone
This shot depicts a large pile of recently quarried limestone blocks prepared on December 1, 1930 before being sent to the mill for processing. This particular grouping contains a range of different kinds of limestone including 20,000 cubic feet of...
Independent Limestone Company; Quarries and quarrying; Derricks; Boring machinery--Channelers
This image is a quarry level view of the Independent Limestone Company. Notice the large derricks in the background used to transport large slabs of limestone produced by the several channelers at the center of the image.
Independent Limestone Company; Murrells Inlet (Sc.); Stone carving
This sculpture, called Riders of the Dawn was designed by A.A. Weinman and sculpted by Robert A. Baillie using limestone from the Independent Limestone Company and is one of more than 1,200 sculptures on display at the Brookgreen Sculpture Gardens...
Independent Limestone Company; National Cathedral (Washington, D.C.)
This interior shot of the West Rose window inside the nave of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. was taken by Hal Carrie for a postcard published shortly after the completion of the cathedral in 1990.
Employees; Lathes; Matthews Brothers Stone Company
The worker, pictured here with a pair of calipers used to measure the diameter of the stone, stands atop a lathe--a machine tool used to shape various objects, in this case a limestone column. As a tool which had been employed in various...
Employees--Stone carvers; Stone carving--Friezes; Matthews Brothers Stone Company
While certain stoneworkers engaged themselves in the backbreaking work--from hoisting and cutting to transport--normally associated with the limestone industry, others found work as cutters and carvers. This image depicts one such group working on...
Employees; Planing-machines; Matthews Brothers Stone Company
Like the milling machine, planers--which had long been employed in metal and woodworking--gradually came to occupy a central place in the stoneworker's tool kit. In this example, a stoneworker draws the machine across the stone by means of a...
Railroads; Switching locomotives; Quarries and quarrying; Matthews Brothers Stone Company
Switch engines like the one pictured were widely employed in the stone industry and instrumental in transporting the material over great distances both within and outside of Indiana. While stone mills would make use of the existing rail...
In 1962, The Matthews Company celebrated the centennial of their founding one hundred years earlier. While many of the Matthews descendants attended the event, invitations were extended to several other interested parties to participate in the...
In 1962, The Matthews Company celebrated the centennial of their founding one hundred years earlier. While many of the Matthews descendants attended the event, invitations were extended to several other interested parties to participate in the...
Among the centennial participants was Walter A. Smith, a retired Postmaster from Indianapolis, who sent his thanks to then President of the Matthews Bros. Cut Stone Co. Frederick Matthews in this letter.
Stone-cutting tools--Belt saws; Limestone mills; Employees; Matthews Brothers Stone Company
By 1973, modern belt or block saws like the one pictured here, originally designed by W. F. Myers Inc. and consisting of a belt of neoprene molded around airplane cable and fitted with highly resilient diamond teeth, had almost completely replaced...
Stone-cutting tools--Rip saws; Employees; Limestone mills; Matthews Brothers Stone Company
Early saws, because they were made of iron and operated without the assistance of water to help ensure durability, often deteriorated quickly. Later versions, such as the rip saw in this image included hoses to prevent the saw from overheating and...
Stone carving; Employees--Stone carvers; Limestone mills; Matthews Brothers Stone Company
Stone carvers work on the floor of the interior of the factory, adding painstaking detail to these ornately carved basins. This is a fine chisel dowel hole for the iron dowel to lift the stone. Notice the hay in that is ready to pack the stone in...
