The arrival of the railroad in the 1860s spawned new businesses. One such enterprise was the Leesburg Lime Company, which operated at the site where you are now located. In 1868 a local newspaper announced:
New Lime Kiln— Messrs. Orr & Manning have in full blast, their new improved Lime Kiln, erected near the A.L.&H. Railroad Depot, Leesburg. It works beautifully, and is turning out a large quantity of Lime. Our farmers and builders can now be supplied with this article, at reasonable rates.
Quarriers used dynamite to break up the limestone inside the pits. The tall poles in the photograph below were part of a steam-powered cabled winch that hauled stone from the pit. Stone was mixed with coal and burned in the kilns, then brought out to the track through the arched openings ahead of you.
The lime company supplied farmers with fertilizer, and builders with plaster for walls and stone for roads. The company went out of business when bluestone, quarried in the eastern part of the county, proved more durable for road use.
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