Producer shares its quarry’s history with the community

Braen Stone Industries of Haledon, New Jersey, partners to share its story with a local historical society. Photo courtesy of Jessica Panicucci.

Sharing and depicting a quarry’s history with the community is one way for aggregate producers to boost the image of their operations.

Braen Stone Industries, a producer in Haledon, New Jersey, found this approach to be effective earlier this fall as it teamed with a local historical society to share one of its quarry’s histories.

Braen Stone partnered with the Sparta Historical Society’s Van Kirk Homestead Museum to assist with its latest exhibit: the Lime Crest Quarry – Eons in the Making, Men and Mining. The exhibit opened to the general public in late September.

Janet R. Braen, Braen Stone’s CEO and chairwoman, expressed an interest in sharing the history of the Braen Stone of Sparta quarry property with the community. The exhibit features the 125-year history of the quarry, along with some of the documents related to its history.

The Sparta Historical Society’s Van Kirk Homestead Museum features stories and images of Braen Stone’s Lime Crest Quarry. Photo courtesy of Nancy Madasci.

According to the Sparta Historical Society, Thomas Edison’s Edison Portland Cement Co. leased this quarry to make agricultural lime and other materials from 1906 to 1908. It was temporarily abandoned after that, but Limestone Products Corp. of America took over operations by 1919. The company renamed it Lime Crest and mined the property until 2003.

Braen Stone purchased the property in 2012 to mine the property for agricultural lime, granite, gneiss and marble. Today, the quarry is about 3,000 ft. in length, 1,500 ft. wide and 300 ft. deep.