Harris Quarry - Lincoln RI - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

Harris Quarry, 9.4 m., in Lincoln township, now appears on the right as a ragged limestone wall rising above a pond made by the flooding of the old pit. The first shelf of the quarry is said to be some 35 feet below the water level, and the bottom much more. The quarry was first worked by Thomas Harris, a contemporary of Roger Williams, and one of the first settlers within the present township. The quarry has not been used for a long time, except as a convenient place in which to drop automobiles on which the owners would like to collect insurance.

p.381 Rhode Island - A Guide to the Smallest State, 1937



In 1946 the business exclusively sold agricultural limestone.The business was purchased from the Harris family. The Harris family was operating the limestone quarry as far back as the 1650's, making our quarry one of the oldest in the country! The limestone in Lincoln, RI is as unique as the Conklin's. Limestone can vary in color from gray to white. The stone found here is some of the whitest stone in the country. When the Harris family ran the show the limestone was cooked in kilns which then created calcium oxide, or lime. Lime is a key ingredient in the process of making cement. Many of the homes built in the early years had stone fireplaces, foundations, and or entire stone walls. Cement is used to mortar the stone together. In the late 1800's kilns were heated by coal or wood. As other methods of heating the lime became more cost effective the kilns were no longer used. The limestone was then used primarily for agricultural purposes as it remains today.

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Book: Rhode Island Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 381 Year Originally Published: 1937

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