From The Quarrying Industry of Missouri, published circa 1905. Pages 113-114. Book located in the University of Missouri-Rolla Library. January 18, 1993

The Edward F. Regenhardt Quarries

Mr. Regenhardt operates two quarries, one the "Normal" quarry, is located just east of the fair grounds, near the west limits of the city; and the other is located two miles south of the city, just beyond the Killebrew quarry.

The Normal quarry consists of a single irregular opening, 70 feet east and west and 100 feet north and south, having a maximum vertical face of 35 feet. This quarry was opened in 1901 to obtain the stone to be used in the Normal school building at Cape Girardeau.

This stone is coarsely crystalline, heavily bedded limestone, having much the appearance of marble. It is almost pure white in the bottom of the quarry, but has a faint pinkish or bluish gray tint near the surface. Fine structure joints occur from two inches to three feet apart. The stone contains small cavities, known locally as ". holes". These are not sufficiently abundant to cause any considerable waste.

The quarry is covered with a very light stripping of clay. Large irregular cavities and open joints, resulting from weathering, occur throughout the quarry. These are usually filled with red clay, which occasionally extends to the bottom of the quarry. These cavities and open joints make it difficult to obtain large blocks, free from the effects of weathering. It is the practice to quarry irregular blocks by hand and saw them in the mill. The stone in the upper part of the quarry is said to be harder than that deeper down. It can be sawed at an average rate of two inches per hour. The stone works nicely under the hammer, and has a pleasing appearance when used as in the Normal school buildings at Cape Girardeau. An excellent grade of white lime is manufactured out of this stone.

This quarry is equipped with a Wordell channeling machine, a crushing plant and two gang-saws.

The second quarry operated by Mr. Regenhardt is located about two miles south of the city on a bluff just south of the Killebrew crusher, on land leased from St. Vincent's College. It has a face 70 feet long and about 15 feet high. The following are the thicknesses of each of the beds from top to bottom: 4 ft., 1 ft. 5 in., 1 ft. 8 in., 1 ft. 9 in., 1 ft., 1 ft. 10 in., 1 ft. 2 in., 2 ft. 4 in., 1 ft. 2 in., 1 ft. 8 in. Some of the stratification planes have a black color. Near the crossing of these planes and the joints the stone weathers more rapidly than in other parts of the quarry.

All the stone in this quarry has the same general texture and color. It is a very fine grained, compact limestone, having a brownish black to very dark blue color. It is very hard and breaks with a sub-conchoidal fracture.

The major joints strike N 40o - 50o W. A minor set strikes N 55o E. These parting planes are taken advantage of in quarrying and are sufficiently far apart to permit the removal of blocks of practically any required dimensions.

The stone has been used in the basement of the new Normal school buildings and in other structures in Cape Girardeau. The dark color of the stone is in striking contrast with the nearly white "Cape marble".

 

The William Regenhardt Quarry

 

This quarry is located near the north limits of the city and is situated on one of the Mississippi river bluffs. The stone, which is known as the Thebes of Cape Girardeau sandstone, caps the hills along the river. The first stone used in Cape Girardeau was obtained from this formation.

It is a yellow, fine grained sandstone which is soft when first quarried but hardens upon exposure. The formation is about fifteen feet thick and consists of beds from three fee to six feet in thickness. When used above the ground, it appears to be very durable, as shown by a dwelling house built out of it in 1853. For half a century, this building has been exposed to the weather without showing any very marked evidence of deterioration. At one time, this stone was shipped quite extensively through the extreme southeastern part of Missouri along the Mississippi river. At present very little is being quarried.

The face of the quarry is about 600 feet long and 15 feet high. It is covered with a stripping of twenty feet of loess, on account of which, it is said to have been abandoned.