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| Michigan Limestone and Chemical Company | |
|---|---|
| Type | Public |
| Founded | 1910 |
| Headquarters | Rogers City, Michigan, USA |
| Key people | Board of Directors |
| Industry | Manufacturing |
| Products | Chemicals, Mineral Products, and other Specialized Products and Services |
| Revenue | unknown (2007) |
| Net income | unknown (2007) |
| Employees | 3,000 - 4,000 (2007) |
| Website | U.S. Steel website |
Michigan Limestone and Chemical Company (a.k.a. "Michigan Linestone") is the world's largest limestone quarry located near Rogers City, Michigan.[1][2][3][4] It was founded in 1910, however the actual operations didn't begin until 1912.[2][5]
Contents |
[edit] History
The geologist Henry H. Hindshaw established about 1908 or 1909 the commercial value of Northern Michigan's limestone.[2] Limestone is a raw material essential in industry for making steel, chemicals, and cement. Hindshaw determined especially the high grade and purity of the limestone deposit underground in the northeastern part of Northern Michigan near Alpena just south of Rogers City along the shore of Lake Huron.[2][6]
The availability of easy water transportation led to the development of the quarry and a port. Both the quarry and the port are named Calcite after the principal ingredient of the stone.[2]
The lumbering industry fell into a lull around 1910 in northern Michigan. It was about this time Michigan Limestone and Chemical Company began mining the limestone material. It send the material out to factories to the south via massive Great Lakes ore bulk carriers. The Rogers City area then developed as the Calcite Plant grew.[6]
The company was purchased by the United States Steel Corporation in 1920 and retained its president Carl D. Bradley. At the time U.S. Steel made the company a subsidary. The company came under the full ownership of U.S. Steel upon Bradley's death in 1928. The company then became a division in 1951.[2] The Michigan limestone operations remains to this day a major employer in northern Michigan.[6]
[edit] Usage of material
The limestone produced at Michigan Linestone is high quality and almost pure white.[7] Steel mills added limestone to molten iron in the blast furnaces. It is used to carry away impurities in the process of making steel.[7] The material is also in widespread use in making cement. The limestone also produces just pure lime, which is used in everything from glass manufacturing, paint fabrication, baking powder assembly and ammonia production.[7]
[edit] Self-discharging ships of the company
Michigan Limestone and Chemical Company had three ships initially. They were named SS CALCITE[8], SS W.F. WHITE[9], and SS CARL D. BRADLEY. These ships were revolutionary in their own right. They represented the latest technology in self-unloading ships that was referred to as "self-discharging" vessels.[7]
In 1912 the company built its first steamship SS CALCITE. It was considerably larger than the first steamship ever designed and constructed for this purpose on the Great Lakes. That ship was called the SS WYANDOTTE[10] and built in 1908 for the Michigan Alkali Company.[7]
The steamships W.F. WHITE and the CARL D. BRADLEY soon followed over the next few years in the fleet. All the steamship's hulls were painted grey to hide the limestone dust that accumulated during loading and unloading.[7]
The design of these self-unloaders were pretty much the same as they are today. The idea is that the "cargo hold" is built with its sides sloping toward the center of the ship along the keel. Where the two sides come together, a series of steel gates can be opened. This allows the material to drop onto a conveyor belt running the length of the ship beneath the "cargo hold." The conveyor belt carries the material to another series of conveyor belts which carry it up on deck and onto another belt running through a long boom on deck. The unloading swing boom is then swung over the ship's side to discharge the material load onto the waiting customer's dock. The advantage of self-unloaders is that they can deliver the limestone material directly to a customer's dock without requiring expensive shoreside unloading rigs.[7]
As growth developed throughout the years the company built several more of these self-unloaders. These ships would operate under the name Bradley Transportation Company after 1928 and known as the Bradley boats or the Bradley fleet.[7][11]
There are self-unloaders today that carry limestone from the Calcite Plant through the Calcite Port to industrial ports all around the Great Lakes.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Calcite, World's Largest Limestone Quarry
- ^ a b c d e f g Michigan Markers
- ^ Mineral Resources of Michigan with Statistical Tables of Production, page 137, published 1917 by The Survey and by Michigan Geological Survey, Michigan Geological and Biological Survey, Michigan, United States Bureau of Mines, Michigan Geological Survey Division. Original available at University of Michigan.
- ^ Michigan's Nautical City
- ^ Traveling Through Time: A Guide to Michigan's Historical Markers
- ^ a b c Presque Isle County area has history of adapting to changes
- ^ a b c d e f g h Tin Stackers
- ^ Great Lakes Vessels Online Index - SS Calcite
- ^ Great Lakes Vessels Online Index - SS W.F. White
- ^ Historical Collections of the Great Lakes - SS Wyandotte
- ^ Rogers City’s Bradley Boats
[Category:Companies established in 1910]] [Category:Companies established in 1912]] [Category:Mining companies of the United States]] [Category:Companies based in Michigan]] [Category:Economy of Michigan]] [Category: Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange]] [Category:Chemical companies]] [Category:Chemical companies of the United States]]
