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FRIDAY February 13, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels January 26, 2004 A forgotten industry remembered By Tommie Smith For the Tidings The first in a three-part series on the history of the Blair Granite Quarry. Submitted photos Tommie Smith (above) examines the mineral-stained lithia water drinking fountain on the Plaza. The granite for the fountain was cut from the Blair Granite Quarry up �eil Creek. Many times during the past fifty years of our marriage, my husband Stan and I have talked about the Blair Granite Quarry. It has always bothered him that no one seems to have any knowledge of it and so far as we know, nothing has been written of this unique industry in Southern Oregon that furnished a good deal of granite used in the State of Oregon as well as many other states. As a result of this I decided to try and put on paper, some of Stan's remembrances as well as some of my own; the story as I know it. A forgotten industry Mr. Walter Marshal Blair, founder of the Blair Granite Quarry, was born September 15, 1875, in New Brunswick, Canada, but had lived in the United States since around 1895. By the turn of the Century he had found his way to Portland, Oregon where he was engaged in the stone cutting business. Around 1914 he sold out and at that time his older partner suggested he invest his money in DuPont stock. Never having heard of DuPont, he was leery and instead chose to settle in Southern Oregon where he had previously visited while searching for granite locations. He used his $40,000.00 to establish the Blair Granite Quarry about five or six miles south of Ashland, located in the hills above Neil Creek. Mr. Blair and his wife Edith built a two-story home on the banks of Neil Creek, having a barn and cow, a garden plot and a suitable area for planting the fruit trees which supplied them with an abundance of fruit. He located a spot in the canyon around and up the hill a short way from their home to build a cookhouse and bunkhouse which housed the approximately eighteen to twenty men employed by them. Two quarries were located further up on the mountain, referred to as the "upper" and "lower" quarry. There were quarry men who drilled and blasted the granite into workable sized blocks of stone then a big derrick with a large pole boom was used to hoist the huge blocks of granite onto a metal skid (which was pulled by horse team), then in later years onto a truck, to be moved down to the cutting and polishing shed nearby. One end of the shed contained the polishing equipment. If stones required polishing they were set in place after being chiseled and cut into specific sizes and shapes, as called for by plans and blueprints, then the polishing process took place. Polishing the stones was accomplished by a large revolving wheel which was maneuvered back and forth and around over the stones by a skilled "polisher" with the aid of grinding compounds and a great quantity of water. During the years Stan recalls, the "polisher's" name was Antone Ring who he thinks was of French-Canadian descent. The original quarry road had about a 36% grade straight down the mountain so Mr. Blair would chain a large chunk of granite behind the WW I Army Surplus Truck (hard-tired), to hold him back. He never allowed anyone to ride with him down the mountain when he had a load of stone and as he would jokingly comment, "No one wanted to." Award-winning work At the International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915, Mr. Blair won the International Gold Medal for his granite from the quarry at Ashland, a beautiful and intricately carved tombstone. Many tombstones, building blocks, and granite steps, still in use today came from the Blair Granite Quarries in Ashland; the steps of the Jackson County courthouse, the Lithia Fountain in Ashland as well as the steps of the State House in Salem. By the late twenties, it appears that the Blair family had separated and wife Edith, with daughter Edna, had moved to Southern California. Meanwhile, in 1928, Stan's grandfather, Horace Venable, while returning to his home, which was originally built by early day Jacksonville pioneer, the honorable Judge Paine Page Prim, was struck by a car on the street in front of his house and pronounced dead shortly thereafter, once again leaving his grandmother a widow at an early age in her life. Her first husband, Charlie Offenbacher, had been kicked by a horse at their Applegate ranch and died when their son, Ray, was just six months old. In 1929, Stan's grandmother, Mamie (Cameron Offenbacher) Venable, responded to an ad in the newspaper, requesting a cook and housekeeper at the Blair Granite Quarry. Upon being accepted for the position, she rented out her Jacksonville home and took up residence in a special room provided for her in the old cookhouse on Neil Creek. The author thanks the Southern Oregon Historical Society for research assistance. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: A new improved archive search is coming! Look for it in mid-February! .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - ODOT Road Cams