Chicago Magazine has an article about the closing of the last quarry supplying the famous Joliet-Lemont limestone.  Located in Joliet, Bromberek Flagstone has been in business since the 1940’s. ESCONI has visited for a few field trips over the years.   Now, it’s closing as Larry Bromberek has sold his property.  Back in July when this article was published, he’s was selling his remaining quarried rock… we are not sure if there is any left.

Walking over to another section of the quarry, I notice newly revealed stone, angular and gleaming. Limestone chunks of varying sizes are neatly stacked beside other kinds of stone brought from quarries around the nation. Bromberek imports quartzite, bluestone, porphyry, and sandstone to Joliet, but limestone dominates the scenery. Gesturing at a long stretch of unquarried rock resembling uncooked tofu, he points out the thin layers of long-dried clay in between. A Caterpillar track loader pulls it up, its bucket’s teeth biting into the rock, busting the clay and bringing up the stone in thicknesses of one inch, two inches, three, or more. Limestone is fickle. “It comes up naturally the way it wants to come up,” Bromberek explains.

Limestone is a sedimentary rock made from the remains of ancient sea life — corals, shells, and bones resting at the bottom of long-gone oceans —  that are eventually compressed into the material we know and love. That means the quarry doubles as a geologic museum. “We find fossils and stuff,” Bromberek says. “Trilobites, cephalopods, coral, and stuff like that.” The company’s website offers loose limestone at 14 cents a pound or $280 a ton, and includes this guarantee: “Every stone, no matter the size, thickness, or if it contains a rare fossil, is the exact same price per pound.” No major finds, à la Sue the T. rex, of course, though the occasional rock hound has shown up and left with some stony souvenir.

To read more about Joliet-Lemont limestone, see “What Do You Know About Joliet-Lemont Limestone?” by Joe Kubal.