Milltown Lime Kiln EarthCache

Milltown (Originally known as Leavenworths Mills) located on Big Blue River, at the point where the Louisville, Evansville & St. Louis Railway entered Crawford from the east, was first laid out about 1827, by Seth Leavenworth, and first settled about 1830.

By 1833, Milltown had a population of 50 people, with 3 stores, a carding mill, saw mill, grist mill and merchant’s mill. By the time of the 1840 census, its population had grown to 73 people. In 1845, a grocery or saloon was opened in Milltown, with Chris Lenz as the proprietor. Three years later, in1848, a bridge across the river was completed.

By 1850, the population of Milltown had more than doubled from its 1840 size, increasing to 150 people. By that time the community boasted a flour mill, grist mill, saw mill, still houses and carding machines. By 1889, the population of Milltown had increased to ca. 400 people, and it was home to the celebrated lime kilns of J. B. Speed & Co. which employed a large labor force, in addition to Hostetter Mills, a school and 2 churches.

To this day, Milltown is still a small town in Harrison County with a population of a little over 500 people. In the town of Milltown you with find a very old Lime Kiln. Next to the Lime Kiln you will find a small flea market. The owner of the flea market is a older gentleman who will be happy to tell you that the lime kiln you are looking at is said top be one of the oldest lime kilns in the state of Indiana. He also will tell you a little history about the kiln. He told me that the lime kiln was used all the way into the 1960s.

Closer inspection of the kiln you will notice some type of wooden supports that have fallen away from the kiln due to age and weathering. I assume that it may of been a roof or walking platform of some sort.

Milltown Lime Kiln is one of a few large weathered stone kilns that remain standing and part of a once thriving burned lime industry that used Indiana limestone and dolomite from the mid-1800's to the early 1900's. The Indiana Geological Survey has located more than 130 sites of old kilns.

Lime was used by early Indiana pioneers mostly for making mortar and plaster and for sweetening the soil. It is used today in scores of chemical, manufacturing, and building processes. Large amounts from Michigan limestone are used for steelmaking in the Calumet region. But no lime has been produced from Indiana limestone since 1953, when the last operation near Milltown was closed.

The lime industry developed along the limestone cliffs in southern Indiana during the 19th century; although the process of transforming limestone to lime dates back over 2,000 years. Limestone was burned in kilns, forcing the carbon dioxide from the rock and creating a powdered or lumpy substance called quicklime. This lime was spread on agricultural fields or mixed with other ingredients to form mortar, plaster, whitewash, etc.

Several lime kilns have been identified within the Harrison-Crawford State Forest in southern Indiana. These features represent pit kilns, into which alternating layers of wood and stone would be piled and burned. Pit kilns were typically used to create a lower quality lime to spread on agricultural fields.

Indiana Limestone, which is a Mississippian-age grainstone of very uniform texture and grade, has gained world-wide acceptance as a premier dimension stone. The Salem Limestone, which is the geologic formational name for this carbonate unit, crops out in a belt that trends southward from Stinesville in Monroe County to Bedford in Lawrence County. The outcrop belt varies in width from about a mile to nearly 10 miles near Bedford.

Indiana Limestone is a freestone, which means that it exhibits no preferential direction of splitting and can, therefore, be cut and carved in an almost limitless variety of shapes and sizes. This property allows the stone to be planed, turned on a lathe, sawed, and hand worked to match the requirements of the most demanding architectural designs. Indiana Limestone exhibits three colors: gray, buff, and variegated, which includes patterns of both gray and buff. The building stone quarried from the Salem Formation consists of light-grey to bluish-grey limestone that has oxidized locally to a light tan. It is medium to coarse grained, well sorted, and porous. It consists mostly of small fossils and fossil fragments.

The most abundant fossil is the foraminiferid Endothyra baileyi that is very small in length. Foraminifera are marine single-celled protists with shells that are commonly divided into chambers which are added during growth. Endorytha appears as small, simple, smooth, ellipsoidal grains. The complex, chambered structure of its shell is apparent only under the microscope. Fragments of bryozoans are also common in the Salem Formation. Bryozoans are tiny aquatic organisms that live in colonies of interconnected individuals. Some bryozoans encrust hard surfaces such as rocks or shells. Other bryozoans formed tree like branching colonies. The most abundant bryozoans in the Indiana Limestone formed fan like colonies that left behind lacy, net textures fossils. Each window like hole in the net once housed an individual bryozoan animal. "Fenestra" is latin for "window", and so this type of organism is refered to as a fenestrate.

A survey was conducted in 2004 to record all known lime kilns within the Harrison-Crawford State Forest. Interviews with local residents and field surveys were conducted in an attempt to locate these features. As a result of this investigation, three separate areas were documented containing approximately two dozen kilns.

Kilns were typically discovered grouped together along the side slope of a ridgeline below the limestone cliffs, where the quarries for the kilns were located. Groupings generally consisted of six or more kilns in a rough linear formation. The study continues to grow as previously undocumented kilns are identified and added to the inventory. Further studies of the lime industry in the State Forest are planned in hopes of identifying the specific dates that the kilns were in operation as well as a comprehensive understanding of the lime industry during the 1800s.

Several of the sites retained cut limestone blocks, some of which are still stacked where they were left 100 years ago, and hydrated quicklime within the kiln structure. Slag, a by-product from the burning process, was also identified during the survey of the lime kilns.

Studies of these items can help to identify the stage in the burning process each kiln was in at the time that the site(s) was abandoned. Further investigations may also help to reveal more detailed information on the lime industry in Harrison and Crawford Counties.

Nearly two dozen lime kilns have been identified within the Harrison-Crawford State Forest. Investigations on these sites and similar archaeological sites indicate that the kilns were in operation during the mid 1800s to early 1900s. By the turn of the century the lime industry had declined due to advances in artificial cement, which was stronger and harder than mortar created from quicklime, and other lime based products.

During your visit to the lime kiln, do not enter or climb onto the kiln. The structure is old and part of the kiln has collapsed on the back side. The logging requirements can all be done by just looking at the lime kiln.

Note! The owner of the property has kindly allowed anyone who wants to visit this location to walk up to the kiln for pictures. You can also complete this EC from the road with out walking onto the grass. Please do not climb on or go into the kiln when visiting.

To get credit for this EC, post a photo of you in front of the Lime Kiln just like in the photo above and please answer the following questions.

1. What is the estimated height of the kiln?

2. Looking inside of the openings of the kiln describe what you see.

3. What is the kiln constructed of?

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Why do I ask for a face in the picture of the EarthCacher finding any of my EarthCaches? A face shot is the same as a signature in a log book. Many geocachers feel in order to get a find you must sign the log book, period. EarthCaching is special and a human face is the same as a signature in a log book. I do not accept hand shots (pictures of a hand with GPS) because it does not show who’s really visiting the ECs I set up for all to enjoy. Besides, there is no log book for you to sign at a EarthCache.

For anyone who doesn’t want to post a picture of their face, then log the find as a note or don’t do it at all. Nobody is forcing anyone to come and visit any of my EarthCaches. I could argue that signing a log at a traditional cache is violating my personal rights because I have to sign a piece of paper. Maybe someone will forge my signature and steal my identity!

An argument that a photo violates a persons identity is foolish. Geocaching is a social activity. Eventually someone will meet you and know you are geocaching. If you want to live a secretive life then geocaching is not the place to do so. Cache on!

Do not log this EC unless you have answered the questions and have a picture ready to post! Logs with no photo of the actual cacher logging the find or failure to answer questions or negative comments will result in a log deletion without notice. Exceptions will be considered if you contact me first (I realize sometimes we forget our cameras or the batteries die). You must post a photo at the time of logging your find. If your picture is not ready then wait until you have a photo.

Sources of information for the EarthCache quoted from the Kentucky Geological Society. I have used sources available to me by using google search to get information for this earth cache. I am by no means a geologist.. I use books, internet, and ask questions about geology just like 99.9 percent of the geocachers who create these great Earth Caches. I enjoy Earth Caches and want people to get out and see what I see every time I go and explore this great place we live in.