A large rock crusher

There are several information plates are attached to this crusher and the company name and location are cast into the sidewall.:

Patented
April 2,
1907.

Allis-Chalmers Co.

Allis-Chalmers Co.
Milwaukee
Wisconsin
1G3888.5K.5375

Milwaukee, Wisconsin U.S.A.

Gates "K" Crusher
Pat'd.
Sept. 4 1894
Dec. 10 1895
Apr. 21 1896
Dec. 27 1898
June 3 1900
July 3 1900
Feb. 5 1901
Jan. 14 1902

No 6875

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From:
Good Roads Magazine
Devoted to Street and Highway Improvement

Volume VII
January - December, 1906

The E. L. Powers Company.
150 Nassau Street
New York

Page 382

Growth of Allais-Chalmers Co.

...The company manufactures the Gates rock and ore breaker, which are known all over the world. The latest of these crushers is known as the style “K”. They are extensively used in the crushing of rock for highway and concrete work and the demand for this class of machinery makes this one of the company's most leading specialties….

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The Texas Historical Marker located to the left of this crusher offers a brief history of the quarry.

Knippa Trap Rock Plant

Volcanic lava deposited here more than 60 million years ago cooled and hardened over time to form basalt, a dark igneous rock also known as trap rock.

M. B. (Pete) Walcott purchased acreage here about 1904 and in 1907 formed the Genevieve Mining Co. to search for gold. Although little gold was found, substantial quantities of high quality trap rock were discovered.

The Texas Trap Rock Company established a quarry about 1911 and shipments of rock began in 1912. A large highly-visible screening house was completed in 1914. By 1919 Knippa's trap rock plant, the largest in Texas at that time, was capable of producing about 100,000 tons of trap rock per year. The company transported the trap rock by spur line to the Southern Pacific Railroad in nearby Knippa.

The company and its employees became an integral part of the community. Knippa High School named its football team the "Rockcrushers" in 1946. The trap rock operation, purchased by White's Mine Company in 1968, was acquired by Vulcan Materials Company in 1987.

Trap rock has been applied to various uses such as railroad ballast, decorative stone, and as insulation material. Its historic and primary use, however, has been as a road paving material. (1994)

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For more information about the Texas Trap Rock Plant see (Google Books) Rock Products Volume XXIV, Chicago August 13, 1931 No. 17

Type of Machine: Allis Chalmers Rock Crusher Year the machine was built: Unknown Year the machine was put on display: Unknown Is there online documentation for this machine: Not listed

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