Lime Stone Landscaping Rock own a part of architectural history. In 1897 a 6 story brick building was constructed for the Ransom Brothers in Albert Lea Minnesota. The Ransom Brothers called their new building the Western Grocer Company, which was a wholesale firm distributing product names such as Jack Sprat and Chocolate Cream Coffee. The Gross Construction Company of Fort Dodge Iowa constructed the Western Building for the Ransom brothers. Gross Construction used 60 train car loads of stone to build its foundation These stones were quarried sometime in the 1880's from a quarry in Gilmore City Iowa using sledges, chisels, hand drills and pry-bars. In 2002 the Western Grocery building was torn down to make way for the City of Albert Lea's new Court House.

We currently have approximately 340 stones available. These stones are stacked and ready for shipping. We are located 1/8 mile off Interstate 90 in Hayward, Minnesota. This site contains our inventory and pricing. To lean more about the history of the Western Grocery building and the 350 million year old Gilmore City Limestone twice recycled, page through our entire web site.

Gilmore City Limestone

The thick, high-calcium limestones which make up the Gilmore City formation were formed by primitive sea animals which flourished in a warm, shallow sea about 350 million years ago. Paleontologist L.R Laudon first visited the Gilmore City quarries in 1929 and discovered the fossil-rich limestone deposits which gave important clues to the evolutionary history of the area. Examinations of the specimens collected revealed that 570 to-225 million years ago during the Paleozoic Era, what is now Iowa lay submerged under a great sea location about 20 degrees south of the Equator. Corals, crinoids arid minute foraminifers were
abundant. A few trilobites and eurypterids were to be found. Snails and mollusks incinding cephalopods and nautriloids, were widespread. Polyzoa and brachiopods were common, and sharks and primitive, hard scaled fish were represented. The fossil remains of these marine organisms which lived in the Mississippian sea that covered Iowa are abundant in the Gilmore City Limestone Formations. Scientists now believe a massive meteorite strike at Manson, Iowa caused Gilmore City's extremely high calcium limestones ordinarily found well below the surface to be pushed up roughly 150-200 feet. Had the meteorite not hit northwest Iowa 66 million years ago, we may have never realized the many benefits of our unique, 98% pure Calcium Carbonate deposit known as Gilmore City Limestone.