Historic Hamilton : Felker Quarry Traditional Cache
Historic Hamilton : Felker Quarry
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Historic Hamilton: Felker Quarry Historic Hamilton will be a
series of caches that serve to bring cachers to historic places in
and around the City of Hamilton. These caches can be placed by
anyone, and are not limited to one owner. If you know of a historic
place in the City of Hamilton to which you would like to bring
people, feel free to add it to the series!
This 19th Century limestone quarry also known as the "bowl" is
located at the edge of the Niagara Escarpment just east of Felkers
Falls and west of Centennial Parkway. Situated just to the west of
where the abandoned northern reach of 2nd road west and Glover
Mountain roads joined. Also the quarry is encompassed in the Nash
Neighbourhood. Unlike the modern quarries in the area being located
at the edge of the Eramosa Escarpment, this quarry was located
directly on edge of the Niagara Escarpment itself.
It is unknown when this piece of land was first quarried and when
the operations had ceased, we do know that it was running in the
19th century. The quarry itself is approx 70 x 70 meters inside.
The top loose glacial rock had been removed from a depth of 2 to 10
feet. Then quarrying operations began on the bedrock of the
Escarpment itself. There is a strip of land encircling the edges of
the quarry that is slightly lower than the surrounding land. This
is due to the removal of loose rock. The quarry hole is 7-15 meters
deep and is enclosed by sheer cliffs in all directions except the
northern face which actually spills over the edge of the
escarpment. The bottom of the quarry hole is flat and is level all
the way out to the escarpment edge.
On this "Plateau", on the outside edge of the escarpment, northeast
of the quarry hole itself was a rock elevator. Made up of two
concrete foundations, one on the ground and one held up by four
concrete bases, they formed the upper part of the elevator. All
that remain is the concrete foundation. There used to be a coal
pile just behind these structures, on the east side of them. This
powered the elevator which brought rock from the quarry pit, down
the escarpment through a small earthen trough. At the very bottom
of the escarpment is a sheer wall built into it which the rock went
over. A heavy metal cable was used to pull the elevator down the
escarpment.
Quarrying operations stopped in the south-eastern portion where
rock still remains within the pit. There are a number of trenches
near the quarry, some running in a straight line and then turning
90 degrees. Others run parallel to each other with a rise between
and head towards the quarry pit. Evidence of a gate can be seen to
the east of the quarry but this may have been added at a later
date.
Please do NOT try climbing the sides of the quarry. The rocks
are quite loose and we would not want damage done to either you or
the quarry itself.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)