Quarries

Quarries. . 1.2 billion years ago intense heat and pressure transformed pure quartz sandstone into quartzite rock. The sandstone originated from sand deposited on the floor of an ancient ocean. Later, as glaciers moved across the area, large portions of the quartzite were exposed. , Early settlers to Sioux Falls found many uses for the stone. Quartzite buildings were constructed here as early as the 1850s. In the late 1800s, quartzite quarries could be found in towns throughout Minnehaha County, such as Dell Rapids, Rowena, East Sioux Falls, and Sioux Falls. Several streets were paved and many of the most prominent buildings in Sioux Falls were constructed of the stone. Quartzite was also shipped by rail to cities like Chicago, Detroit, Omaha, and Sioux City. , The beds of quartzite, a metamorphic rock, in this region originate in southwest Minnesota and spread across most of Minnehaha County. A geologic survey done by the federal government in 1889 estimates that the quartzite beds may be up to 3,000-4,000 feet deep. The rock, which can vary in color from light pink to dark purple, is one of the hardest stones in the world. , Many of the earliest quarries boomed during the 1880s and early 1890s, but suffered greatly during the economic panic of 1893. Several closed and others began to fade into history. The Works Progress Administration reopened some of the quarries in the 1930s during the Great Depression, but this revival was short-lived. Many of the local quarries in operation today primarily manufacture construction materials such as gravel or aggregate for concrete mix or railroad ballast. A quarry for manufacturing of architectural stone and decorative elements is still operating in Jasper, Minnesota, today.