Sandstone: The Kettle River Quarry Town

Sandstone, Minnesota takes its name from what lies beneath the Kettle River bluffs here: a dense, warm-brown building stone prized by architects across the country. Colonel William Grant opened the first quarry in eighteen eighty-six, and the Village of Sandstone was platted the following year. The stone that came out of the Kettle River quarries paved the streets of Saint Paul, built structures at Fort Snelling, and appeared in buildings from coast to coast under names like Kettle River Sandstone Company and Minnesota Sandstone Company.

At its peak the operation ran through a series of owners over five decades. The quarrying industry slowed through the early twentieth century as cheaper brick and concrete replaced natural stone, and the last quarry company wound down in nineteen forty-two. The town survived, and the Kettle River it was built beside runs through nearby Banning State Park, where the remains of an old quarry can still be seen.