Near Polo in Ogle County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Buffalo Grove Lime Kiln 1870-1915
Photographed By Rev. Ronald Irick, October 7, 2022
1. Buffalo Grove Lime Kiln 1870-1915 Marker
Inscription.
Buffalo Grove Lime Kiln 1870-1915. . This free-standing, perpetual-burning lime kiln was used to produce lime mortar, a product widely utilized by the building industry. The area was known as Buffalo Grove after a thriving early settlement along the Galena Trail. The region retained the name even though the community had relocated in 1855 and was renamed Polo. Mortar was made by using ropes and pulleys to raise baskets of quarried limestone to the top of the kiln where the rocks were dropped inside. To create the intense heat needed to change the rock into fine, white-powdered lime, workers fed wood into the draft shaft through the two fireboxes located on opposite sides of the kiln. The powdered lime fell into a chamber at the bottom of the kiln, where it was shoveled out and stored in barrels in the attached lime house. The ashes fell into ash pits located under each firebox. The kiln sits on the quarry floor in close proximity to the resources need for lime production. The adjacent bluffs provided the raw material and the nearby grove of trees supplied the fuel. The Polo Historical Society purchased the site in 1985 and restored the kiln to functional condition in 1993. The protective roof was not part of the original structure. The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
This free-standing, perpetual-burning lime kiln was used to produce lime mortar, a product widely utilized by the building industry. The area was known as Buffalo Grove after a thriving early settlement along the Galena Trail. The region retained the name even though the community had relocated in 1855 and was renamed Polo. Mortar was made by using ropes and pulleys to raise baskets of quarried limestone to the top of the kiln where the rocks were dropped inside. To create the intense heat needed to change the rock into fine, white-powdered lime, workers fed wood into the draft shaft through the two fireboxes located on opposite sides of the kiln. The powdered lime fell into a chamber at the bottom of the kiln, where it was shoveled out and stored in barrels in the attached lime house. The ashes fell into ash pits located under each firebox. The kiln sits on the quarry floor in close proximity to the resources need for lime production. The adjacent bluffs provided the raw material and the nearby grove of trees supplied the fuel. The Polo Historical Society purchased the site in 1985 and restored the kiln to functional condition in 1993. The protective roof was not part of the original structure. The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
Erected 2007 by The Polo
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Historical Society and The Illinois State Historical Society.
Location. 41° 59.158′ N, 89° 36.297′ W. Marker is near Polo, Illinois, in Ogle County. Marker can be reached from South Galena Trail Road south of West Eagle Point Road (County Road 6), on the right when traveling south. Marker is at the lime kiln, at the south side of the stone quarry, at the BNSF Railroad. Both the quarry and the railroad have signs reading "No Trespassing.". Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2189 South Galena Trail Rd, Polo IL 61064, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Photographed By Rev. Ronald Irick, October 7, 2022
2. Buffalo Grove Lime Kiln 1870-1915 Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on October 25, 2022. It was originally submitted on October 25, 2022, by Rev. Ronald Irick of West Liberty, Ohio. This page has been viewed 153 times since then and 31 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on October 25, 2022, by Rev. Ronald Irick of West Liberty, Ohio. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
