Basswood Island Quarry Dock
Gallery
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Basswood Island Quarry Dock Site Plan
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Image of the main crib at Basswood Island
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Image of the near shore north crib at Basswood Island
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Rock splitting wedges
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A diver swims over the remains of the main crib
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A schooner loads brownstone at the Bass Island Quarry dock
 
Details
Attraction
Location
Body of Water: Lake Superior
Trail Name: Lake Superior
Year Built: 1868
Nearest City: Bayfield
County: Ashland
Zip Code: 54814
Latitude: N 46° 49.92540'
Longitude: W 090° 45.40608'
Attraction
Features
Open to public?: Yes
Mooring buoy?: No
Mooring buoy in place?: No
Snorkelable?: Yes
Dive guide?: No
Trails sign?: No
National Register?: Yes
Attraction
Description
The Basswood Island Quarry (also known as the Bass Island Brownstone Quarry) is located at the south end of Basswood Island. In 1854, a group of investors purchased the land where the quarry eventually would open. In 1868, three of the four investors sold their shares to Alanson Sweet. Sweet, creator of the Bass Island Brownstone Company, began quarry operations in 1868 in response to a request for reliable building material to construct the Milwaukee Courthouse. The Bass Island Brownstone Company built docks and installed machinery at the site. Because brownstone was not a common building material at the time, stone samples were sent to the Smithsonian Institution for analysis and strength testing; the stone was found to be superior. Sweet and the Bass Island Brownstone Company maintained ownership of the quarry and operated it until 1870 when it was sold to investors from Chicago and Milwaukee. Over the course of 1870, fifteen to forty workers built the facilities necessary and worked to remove nearly 2,000 tons of stone for the Milwaukee Courthouse. Brownstone was said to have maintained great integrity in the intense heat of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, increasing the popularity of the stone. During the next two seasons, the company shipped brownstone exclusively for the rebuilding of Chicago. However, after 1873 the demand for brownstone took a downturn due to nationwide economic troubles, leading to reduced work at the quarry.

The Cook & Hyde Company operated the Bass Island Brownstone Company quarry from 1883 until 1888. Cook & Hyde used their quarrying operation on Bass Island to supply stone yards in Milwaukee and Minneapolis. The only vessel known to have been built in the Apostle Islands was built on Basswood Island: two-masted scow schooner Annie R. was used specifically to haul brownstone from the Cook & Hyde Company quarry to Washburn. In 1881, the Superior Brownstone Company was incorporated to purchase tracts of land for logging or quarrying purposes. The company leased land on Basswood Island beginning in 1891 and started quarrying operations later that year. Superior Brownstone Company maintained quarry operations on Basswood Island until the financial crisis of 1893, which led to a decline in the demand for brownstone. Although a few quarries around Chequamegon Bay were able to remain in operation through the crisis, the Superior Brownstone Company reduced its working crew to 15 men at the beginning of August, and by the end of the 1893 season, had shut down operations for good.

Site Description:
Today, Company’s dock lies in 7 to 20 feet of water just off the south end of Basswood Island. The site consists of three wooden cribs and one stone pier connecting the main crib to land. The main crib is attached to the island by a stone pier that is now completely submerged. The pier rests in 4 to 7 feet of water and measures 158 feet in length and 50 feet wide at its widest point. The stone pier widens and flattens along the shoreline and consists of small rocks and pebbles. Various tools and other implements can be found, including stone splitting wedges and rods. There is a section of narrow-gauge rail track on the southwest edge of the rock fall of the stone pier. Near shore, additional wedges and an iron turnbuckle were located, as well as two porcelain shards found near the near-shore cribbing. A large rock fall containing numerous cut stones is located near the north crib. Cut marks from the wedges used to remove the stones from the quarry can be seen on most of the stones.
 
Map
 
Nearby
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Apostle Islands Cruise Service
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Basswood Island Quarry Dock
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Charlotte (1912)
Finn McCool (1926)
Francis R. Anderson (1885)
Idlewild (?)
Josephine Addison (1919)
Lua (1905)
Marquette (1881)
Moonlight (1874)
Mystic (?)
Ontario (1891)
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Shipwrecks (12)
Charlotte (1912)
Finn McCool (1926)
Francis R. Anderson (1885)
Idlewild (?)
Josephine Addison (1919)
Lua (1905)
Marquette (1881)
Moonlight (1874)
Mystic (?)
Ontario (1891)
Phantom (?)
Tourist (1888)
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