History of The Quarry

During the 1800’s and early 1900’s, seven stone quarries operated at various times in the vicinity of Peninsula, Ohio. In Peninsula, the Cuyahoga River and its smaller tributaries exposed an outcropping of sand stone called the Berea Grit Strata. The first quarry was opened by the State of Ohio for the building of the Ohio and Erie Canal during the 1820’s. The other local quarries operated at various intervals from that time into the early 1920’s. The last operating quarry was the Independent Quarry (which has now become “The Quarry” swimming facility).

The first stone to come from Peninsula quarries were hand hewn stone blocks used in building canal locks and building foundations. As the years passed and finer grades of stone were exposed, more valuable products such as grind stones, pulp stones for papermaking and grain milling stones were produced and shipped not only nationwide but also to Europe and Japan. At first the stone was quarried almost entirely by manual methods but later in the 1800’s steam operated drills, saws and hoists were widely used.

The Independent Quarry, opened in 1900, was the area’s last quarry to be started and the last to close as noted above. It is located at the northern edge of the Waterman/Bishop property on the South side of Route 303 and just west of the Cedar Grove Cemetery. Slipper Run borders the South side of the quarry and is separated from it by a levee built from the original overburden that had to be removed to expose the stone. A rail spur was built up to the east side of the quarry that allowed stone to be hauled to and shipped by the Valley Line RR that parallels the Ohio and Erie Canal.  

After quarry operations ceased, all of the quarry equipment was dismantled and removed and the quarry filled with water. For the next 30 years local residents often used the quarry as a swimming hole but it was unguarded. In 1956 a group of local residents decided to establish a non-profit organization, The Boston Township Community Service League (BTCSL), to operate the quarry as a guarded facility for area residents. The quarry was divided into two swimming areas, a shallow end with water depth less than 5 feet and a deep end with water depths ranging from 8 to 16 feet. Since 1956 The Quarry has been improved, operated and maintained by the BTCSL with the generous support of time and money by hundreds of area residents devoted to keeping this treasure from the past.

Visit our Photos page for a collection of old Quarry photos.