I never got a chance to photograph them, but there used to be a row of one story buildings that lined the west side of Grand Boulevard just south of the viaduct over the railroad tracks, just north of the intersection with Chouteau Avenue where this vacant lot now lies. Little did I know that over century ago, to the west of that intersection, was the Fruin-Bambrick Quarry.

Of course, there were once dozens of quarries throughout the city, but I didn’t realize there was one in the center of the city like this. Looking at old maps, this was a stone quarry, though of course there were also clay mining operations throughout the city. Their offices were located downtown at 805 Pine Street.