Some History

These cool, calm waters are inviting on a hot summer day! Who would guess, looking at this picture, that, in less than 2 decades, this quarry shipped huge quantities of limestone in various forms, while undergoing several changes of management.

The newly-formed Elora White Lime Co. bought this property from James Russell and John Connan in 1914 and built first two, and then two more, large lime kilns.

World War I created manpower shortages during those years, but one advantage that the company had was a railway siding which joined the CPR rail line between Elora and Fergus (and which now serves as the Elora Cataract Trail!).

The operations were sold to the Alabastine Co. in 1916. Labour was still in short supply, so they invested in more machinery to increase their productivity. By the following year, they were shipping 40 tons per day, all over Ontario.

The end of the war brought a boom to Toronto, and the quarry operations flourished. By 1928 the pit was 100 feet deep. As a result, water from the nearby river, and from the water table, continuously seeped into the pit and pumps were needed to permit quarrying to continue.

Electricity to run the pumps, rock crushers, and bagging machines became a significant expense to the company. When the village of Elora annexed the property in 1926, the company could buy electricity from the town at a lower rate.

In 1927 the Alabastine Co. reorganized as the Canadian Gypsum and Alabastine Co. Later it became the Gypsum, Lime and Alabastine Co.

Demand for building material dried up during the depression, and the quarry operations ceased in 1932. The pumps were turned off, the quarry filled with water, and it became the local swimming hole. ¹

¹ Steve Thorning, The Village's Quarry Was Created by the Elora White Lime Co., The Elora Sentinel, June 25, 1991