Grafton Quarries / Grafton Ohio

More about the Grafton Quarries
Grafton is home to over a dozen quarries with the majority of them located along the Black River. The
primary quarrying interests were held by John Hart. On property originally owned by Heman Eli, Hart
opened the Black River Quarries in 1850 and owned interests in the Grafton Stone Company
(incorporated 1868) and the Black River Stone Company (incorporated 1872 with an initial investment
of over $200,000). Six quarries were operated on the east side of the river and five on the west side.
These quarries were later absorbed into the Cleveland Stone Company in November 1906, and
subsequently the Cleveland Quarries Company (CQC) in 1929...although these quarries were no longer
actively quarried after 1919. This land was held by the CQC until 1954 when it was purchased by
Calvin and Eula Miller.

An additional quarry (Webster Quarry) was operated by William Webster - the stone extracted was
used primary for the construction of the Webster home and school, as well as sold to other residents
for home construction. The Willow Quarry (located on the east side of Grafton) supplied most of the
sandstone used in Grafton for early sidewalks. This quarry operated from the 1870s to the early
1900s. There is also evidence that the Mussey Stone Company (who had interests in both Elyria and
South Amherst) was active in the Grafton area.

Special thanks to Chris Smith and Mike Miller for their research on the many quarries located around
Grafton.