Forming Blocks

Forming Blocks. Discover the Banning Quarry. This was the stone cutters' area. Train cars brought large stones here to be split and shaped. One splitter supplied three stone cutters. Stone cutters shaped the blocks into curbing, building stones or paving blocks. Cities across the country still use buildings, bridges, sewers and streets of Kettle River sandstone., Though tools could be ordered from catalogues, many of the stone cutting tools were made directly onsite by the blacksmiths. Stone cutters used a variety of chisels, hammers and wooden mallets to shape the stones., The Kettle River Company , Kettle River stone pavements have the quality of durability common to other stone pavements and in addition are very gritty... The grit in Kettle River stone keeps the horses' shoes from slipping and brings the wear on the highest part of the block so that Kettle River stone pavement wears even and becomes smoother with use..., Kettle River stone is not so resonant as granite and brick and therefore much less noisy than either, ranking well up to asphalt in this respect. It is less dusty than any other pavement excepting creosote block and is the ideal pavement for all heavy traveled or grade streets, combining more good qualities than any other pavement.