State Quarry, Old
About this property
The Old State Quarry State Preserve, also known as the North Bend Quarries, Capitol Quarry, Old Capitol Quarry, and the State Quarry, is a historic site located northeast of North Liberty, Iowa, United States. The quarry, originally known as North Bend Quarries, began operations in 1842. It provided limestone for numerous buildings and structures in Iowa City and elsewhere in the state. The list includes the Old Capital (1842), the foundations for Old Brick Church (1856) and the present Iowa State Capitol (1886) in Des Moines. The exact date that the quarry closed is not known, but because there is no evidence of mechanized techniques to remove stone, it is assumed it closed around the turn of the 20th century. There are, however, hand tool marks in the remaining stone. From 1874 to 1911 Samuel Calvin, professor of natural history at the State University of Iowa, used the quarry for both research and instruction in geology and paleontology. The limestone here is made up largely of cemented fragments of brachiopods that lived in a shallow tropical sea that covered this area during the Devonian period. There is also evidence of fish teeth and plates in the lower parts of the channel sequence. The preserve is the type locality for “State Quarry Limestone,” determined by Calvin, and only found in Johnson County, Iowa. The quarry became a historical state preserve in 1969, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about State Quarry, Old
This page lists State Quarry, Old. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Questions about this property
When was State Quarry, Old listed on the National Register?
State Quarry, Old was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 23, 1998.
What type of historic resource is State Quarry, Old?
State Quarry, Old is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for State Quarry, Old?
The period of significance for State Quarry, Old is recorded as the listed era.
Can I research the history near State Quarry, Old?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near State Quarry, Old will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
More in Johnson County
Historic places, battles, and census history across Johnson County.
Explore JohnsonCounty ›Research the history near this site
An Aubrey US report for an address near State Quarry, Old will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.