Kelleys Island History Blog

LOOKING BACK - May 1925 – From the Erie Echo (a small newspaper that was published for all the schools in Erie Co.), the column was called Kelleys Island Ramblings. By Leslie Korenko Kelley’s Island’s Greatest Industry - The Kelley’s Island Lime & Transport Co. is our greatest industry.   At present this company employees 125 men and its average by-weekly pay roll is $7,700 or enough to give every man, woman and child on the Island approximately five dollars a week. Few realize, even including those who live on the Island, the value of this company. It can be seen from the above that almost one-fourth of the families living here are more or less dependent upon this company. The economic effect of one summer’s shut-down could easily be foretold. Yet, notwithstanding the above, the fact remains that it is a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. The present state of depletion can not always continue. At present the surface of the Island is being stripped to a depth of eight or te...

WHAT IS THAT BIG BUILDING AT THE STATE PARK? By Leslie Korenko This is one of the TOP 10 questions that we get asked at the history museum and on Facebook. That was the North Side quarry crusher. Late in 2018, the State Park cleared the trees and brush from around this structure, revealing it for the first time in many years. As a result, people are asking “What is that big cement thing at the State Park?” While there are several great pictures in the quarry section of the museum that tell a more detailed story about this structure and the various quarry operations on the Island, here is a little history about this particular building. The right side of the building was the steam plant that powered the entire operation. The left side was the crusher building and stone storage bins. Railroad cars would back up through a hole in the upper part of the building and tip stone down into the crusher, which was located in the corner where the two structures meet. You can still see the co...