Kelley's Island - West Side Dock   Save
Ohio Guide Photographs
Description: This photograph shows the West Side Dock on Kelley’s Island. The West Dock was built in 1906 by the Kelleys Island Lime & Transport company and was located roughly in the middle of the west shore of the island. Sometimes called the Stone Dock, it is elevated pier made of steel and wooden trestles, with railway tracks running along the top, and designed to load crushed limestone into barges from either side. Within six years of being built, more than 500,000 tons were being shipped each year with as many as 8 steam locomotives needed to pull up to 150 full train cars. The company's island quarrying operation comprised more than 1,000 acres; especially impressive considering the whole island is only 2,888 acres. The lakeside ore dock was modified to a "pocket" structure in 1910. This greatly improved efficiency, as it allowed limestone to be stored in large bins until it could be loaded onto ships. While quarrying continues to be a major industry on the island, The Kelley Island Lime & Transport Company, founded in 1896, and which was once the largest producer of limestone and lime products in the world, closed the early 1960s. Numerous ruins of these operations and quarries now dot the island. The East Quarry closed in 1940 and is now a state park. The whole of Kelley’s Island was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F08_004_001
Subjects: Limestone--Ohio; Quarries and quarrying--Ohio; Historic sites--Ohio--Kelleys Island--Pictorial works; National Register of Historic Places
Places: Kelleys Island (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)