Quarry - 'Rock Hole'

Quarry - 'Rock Hole'. . , On the western side of Olympia Mill Village is a huge granite quarry that was first worked in the 1880's before the mills were built. Granite from this quarry has been used for 135 years to build roads, airport runways, and other purposes. Locally known as "The Rock Hole," the quarry has always extended major influences on life in the mill village either as villains or as champions. Villains because of the early blasting techniques that shook the village regularly and showered fine powdery dust, or as champions providing jobs and economic stability to hundreds of workers who considered themselves lucky to be out of the mills., Up until 1915 only a relatively small amount of material was quarried. In the early days the plant was operated by steam and lots of man power. Mules and "slip pans" moved the stone. Black powder and dynamite were used to blast and loosen the stone. George Lott, Sr. organized Palmetto Quarries, which continued as a family business, branching out into concrete products in 1948, for fifty-five years., Lone Star Industries purchased all of Palmetto Quarries operations in 1969 and continued their expansion in the South. Over the years more modern techniques for quarrying the stone were developed, but it was not until the year 2000, when Vulcan Materials acquired what had become Tarmac, that real progress was made in more precise and less invasive blasting techniques. Methods were developed to contain the dust from blasting, too. Village residents have embraced this more community-friendly relationship., Vulcan is committed to be a good corporate citizen in the Olympia Mill Village. They support community projects such as Olympia Fest, Olympia Cemetery Association, and the Olympia Mill Village Museum.