Walker Cut Stone Company
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Walker Cut Stone Company | |
 | |
| Nearest city | Wilkeson, Washington |
|---|---|
| Area | 40 acres (16 ha) |
| Architectural style | Stone quarry |
| NRHP reference No. | 78002770[1] |
| Added to NRHP | June 7, 1978 |
The Wilkeson Cut Stone Company operated the oldest sandstone quarry in the Pacific Northwest. It began operations in the 1870s and produced sandstone that was used for the Washington State Capitol in Olympia among other major buildings. The quarry and the company's other facilities near the town of Wilkeson, Washington, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.[2]
The town of Wilkeson was settled following the discovery of coal in the Carbon River canyon in 1862. Mining began eleven years later and in 1876 the Northern Pacific Railroad (NPR) built a branch line to the area. The sandstone outcropping was noted by Sam Wilkeson in 1869. He and the Northern Pacific with Chief Engineer W. Milnor Roberts were on an expedition to study geology and terrain prior to selecting the NPR’s transcontinental route.[2] The quarry was opened by the Northern Pacific in the 1870's road ballast. The first quarry building was begun in 1883 when the operation began selling to commercial contractors. St. Luke's Episcopal Church was completed in 1884 in Tacoma by Charles B. Wright, a former president of the Northern Pacific, in memory of his wife and daughter.[2]
