While not the biggest quarry in the Chicago area you will have to admit this is one BIG hole in the ground.
Rerouting several main roads (Joliet and Plainfield Roads) this hole in the ground causes some traffic issues but most people have gotten used to the inconveniences.
The Basic Information
The 650-acre quarry, which employs 165 workers and has been in operation for more than 100 years, has provided hundreds of millions of tons of aggregate materials to a wide range of projects in the area.
Some of the History
The Kimball and Cobb Stone Quarry, organized in 1888, was the first major business in the area that would later become the Village of Hodgkins. The establishment of this business was the first concrete step in permanent settlement of the Village. The president of the Kimball and Cobb Stone Quarry was Jefferson Hodgkins, the man for whom the village was named. The secretary of the company was Frederic Cobb, the man whose name was given to Cobb Street.
Hodgkins, a quarryman and crushed stone contractor, was born in Lemoine, Maine on October 27, 1843. Hodgkins went through the public schools of Lemoine. After leaving school at the age of 17, he became a sailor. Hodgkins spent eight years in this vocation, sailing out of both New York and Boston, except for one year when he served as a private in Company C 26th Me. Volunteers during the Civil War.
Hodgkins worked for the federal government in surveying projects in 1869 and 1870. He came to Chicago in 1872 and became superintendent of the Chicago Dredging and Dock Company for several years, later contracting business for himself. It was in 1885, while president of the Brownell Improvement Company, that Hodgkins organized the Kimball and Cobb Stone Company. Three years later, he bought the company and consolidated it with his own. The newly merged improvement company owned stone quarries, manufactured crushed stone and contracted primarily railway work.
Hodgkins was active socially and in politics. In addition to other posts, Hodgkins served as aide de-camps on Illinois Governor Joseph W. Fifer's staff, holding the rank of Colonel.
It is unclear exactly how Hodgkins' name came to replace Gary as the village's moniker. Throughout its history, Hodgkins has been known by several different names. In the years before settlers began to arrive, the Pottawatomie Indians lived in the area near the Des Plaines River. From 1836 transient workers were brought to the area to work on the I&M Canal; however, it wasn't until 1860, when the United States Government deeded property to a local settler, Hurls Polk, that the name "Polk" was given to the area. When the Santa Fe Depot was built in 1887 the name of the stop was "Novak". By 1890, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad listed the stop in present-day Hodgkins as "Gary". this designation would stick until July 1, 1896 when the Village of Hodgkins was incorporated.
The quarrying legend continues today at the Vulcan Materials Company McCook Quarry, with 650 total acres in Hodgkins and McCook.
Thanks to Wikipedia and Waymarking for some of the data!
Placed with a nod to liminal man and his fine series of End of the Road caches! Rock On!