Page 110 - Demo

108Idle Stone MillsLimestone Mill (Electrical panel.), Bloomington%u2014Monroe Co. (128.10)The first commercial limestone quarry was opened in Monroe County in 1827. Since then, quarries have opened, and closed, all over Lawrence and Monroe Counties%u2014as well as the mills, where the stone was shaped. Today, there are a number of limestone mills that remain profitable businesses. However, others didn%u2019t make it. Some have left no trace, while a few buildings have been converted to other uses.Over the last several years, I%u2019ve photographed three abandoned limestone mills%u2014all in Monroe County%u2014that still had equipment sitting in them. One had shut down in the 1970s, the other two more recently. The images on these four pages were taken at all three locations.When I photographed these old limestone mills, I was struck by their size%u2014they were often as large as football fields. Inside the soaring spaces, there were massive saws and planers set up to cut, and precisely shape, rough-cut blocks into finished products for architects and builders. For years, this equipment operated on steam power but, eventually, the steam engines were replaced with powerful electric motors. And skilled carvers and artisans who relied exclusively on chisels and mallets began to use pneumatic equipment.