Quarrying began around 1815 in the Beaver Dam Swim Club. Back then, it was called the Taylor and Scott quarries. Quality of marble varies, and the marble extracted from Taylor and Scott quarry was considered to be one of the very best. It was used as a building stone because of its hardness and splendid color.
The Scott Taylor quarry employed anywhere from 200-250 men from 1880-1900. Before machines were designed to extract the marble, workers, mainly Irish immigrants, did it by hand using ordinary tools such as hand drills, hammers and chisels. After it was loaded into wagons, oxen hauled these wagons a mile away to the Cockeysville rail line to be shipped out. New equipment was introduced such as derricks, shovels, drills with diamond bits, and cutters after 1866, which made the process of mining the mineral a lot easier.
(Image courtesy of Sunday Sun Magazine)
The demand for marble plummeted as cement and concrete were introduced in the early part of the twentieth century. The last project that was constructed of its eminent marble was the Arts and Science building at the University of Maryland at College Park. After downsizing to about 30 employees, Taylor and Scott shut down in 1934. Equipment was hauled away and pumps were shut off, allowing spring water to fill the pit.
Beaver Dam Swim Club opened in 1936. People paid 25 cents to swim in the sparkling clean spring water. Beaver Dam still exists today. Standing on approximately 25 acres, the swim club offers pools, beach area, volleyball courts, basketball court, snack bar, numerous picnic tables and grills, and free parking. For adventurous swimmers, there is a Tarzan swing and cliffs to jump off of.
(Image provided by Beaver Dam Swimming Club)
Schmidt, J. (1963, Feburary 24). Our Famous White Steps:Status Symbols. Baltimore Sunday Sun Magazine. Baltimore, Maryland, USA: A.S. Abell Co.
No comments:
Post a Comment