LUTTRELL MARBLE QUARRY

The completion of the railroad through Luttrell in 1889, encouraged Knoxville businessmen to invest money and equipment to facilitate the opening of the marble bed in Luttrell in 1892. The established mining operation employed a number of local workmen and boosted the economy for decades. Credit is due Stewart W. Maher, principal geologist of Kenwell, Incorporated for his help in supplying information on marble quarries in the Knox and Union County area

The United States Gealogical Survey of 1895 and 1901, record A Holston marble striking in general toward the northeast. In the Knoxville area the strike is north ten degrees east, and the dip varies ten to thirty degrees toward the southeast. The beds at Luttrell strike in approximately the same direction, but the dip is directly opposite, being ten to thirty degrees toward the southeast. The stone itself is a coarsely crystalline, high calcium limestone, which'is familiarly known as the Tennessee marble.

In 1881, John M. Ross opened what was known as the Island Home Quarry (Meade's) on the south side of the Tennessee River in Knoxville, and served as superintendent. A few months earlier the Republican Marble Company was organized and began operating a quarry located near Concord, eighteen miles southwest of Knoxville. In 1892, a quarry was opened about one mile north of Luttrell and a part of the company's plant was removed there. Operations were continued at the Concord quarry for several years but was finally discontinued. A steam mill was erected near the Luttrell quarry and a few years later the Republican Marble Company and the Ross Marble Company consolidated under the name of the Ross and Republican Marble Company. The quarry and mill continued to operate processing plants at Luttrell through 1970.

The quarry at Luttrell was about one-eighth mile north of the railway station, situated on the south side of Big Flat Creek. The quarry was made up of an alternating series of marble and limestone strata ranging in thickness from 25 to 100 feet. The quarry was located on the lowest marble formation, which was about 75 feet thick. The marble was separated from typical Knox dolomite beds by about 125 feet of limestone, the upper 75 feet of which consisted of the compact dove-colored Mosheim beds and the lower 50 feet of alternating strata of blue limestone and dolomite.

Overlying the main quarry bed was a formation of limestone, including several marble horizons comprising a thickness of about 1,200 feet. The marble strata occurred at four different horizons having thicknesses of 25, 40 and 100 feet respectively. Above these marble-limestone beds was a formation of blue slabby limestone and shales having a thickness of about 800 feet which succeeded upward by the red Maccasin beds.

The marble was nearly all of the dark-red or cedar variety. The only exception noted was a ledge of rather dark pink or light-red at the top of the main quarry beds. The marble of this ledge were of good quality and fairly free from erosion cracks or cutters.

Moving deep into the seam the marble was cut out with channeling machines. The blocks were roughly trimmed and shipped to sawmills to be cut to size and finished. The trimmings and waste, including sometimes big blocks of unsound stone, were turned over to the lime company.

The vein of marble through the Luttrell community was tapped on the Ferguson farm on both side of Tazewell Pike south of the city a number of years after the quarry operation began. Although this quarry did not last as long as the main operation northeast, a high grade of marble was removed. After the operation was discontinued the excavated area filled with water and served as a community swimming hole for many years.

The marble quarry did not operate on a daily basis the year around, but rather a few months at a time, and some years, not at all. When the quarry closed in 1970, perhaps the owners thought it would open again in the future. This theory would explain why the staff-pole and anchor cables, steel derricks, wenches, and cable, were left in place. The small office and building that housed the steam mill are still on the site but have badly decayed.

The steam mill consisted of a coal burning furnace that generated steam to power the channeling machines. Later, steam was adapted to maneuver the derricks and other heavy equipment and eliminate lag lines facilitated by a group of men pulling ropes.

A good market was established for marble from East Tennessee. The list of well-known buildings containing Tennessee marble include: The East Tennessee Historical Center (Customs House), the Federal Building in Hartford, Connecticut, the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, the Baltimore Life Insurance Building in Baltimore; the Coca Cola Company home office building in Atlanta, the Internal Revenue Building, the United States Supreme Court Building, the National Gallery of Art, the Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institute, and the Rayburn Office Building in Washington.

Maher described the processing of lime near the Luttrell quarry as simple. The stone was all drilled and blasted, placed in cars, hauled to the tops of the kilns, and dropped. The two kilns consisted of steel casings lined with fire brick at the top and sandstone at the burning zones. The tops of the Luttrell kilns were left open. The lining of the kilns were shaped like inverted cones the diameter were seven and one-half feet and nine feet eight inches with a height of twenty-two feet. The unlined coolers were eleven and one-half feet 'deep and were rounded with shears for drawing the lime.

Some kilns had three furnaces 120 degrees apart while others had four 90 degrees apart. These boxes were twenty-four by thirty-six inches wide by forty-two to forty-eight inches deep by eighteen to twenty-two inches high. A six inch dead olate was located in front of the grates and an eighteen inch bridge wall in back. Gas coal from the Jellico mines was burned with a natural draft. The fires were heavy and replenished often.

The lime was drawn out every hour. The average temperature of the kilns was 1525 degrees Centigrade. The lime was drawn into iron buggies and was cool enough to be weighed and loaded immediately. The Luttrell operation furnished mostly building lime.

See more pictures of the old quarry.

For additional information on Luttrell, Union County's first incorporated town see: Luttrell A History published by the UCHS (1989). WGT

For more information on this article or any article or publication of the Union County Historical Society please write them at:

Union County Historical Society
P.O. Box 95
Maynardville, TN 37807

Or
E-mail the Union County Historical Society.

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