"LYLE, Wash., Dec. 10. -- (Special.) -- Born in Germany in 1855. Excused from the country's army service owing to the support of a large family devolving upon him. Apprenticed early in life to learn the blacksmith trade. At the age of 33 years landing from a crowded ship at Annapolis, Maryland. Such was the early life of Simeon Sabot.

Sabot was poor and honest and industrious. In looking for work he was not particular and to his class of immigrants the United States always has a welcome.

Sabot worked to the West and at no time was he without work and a home. The "Sam" Shockley homestead, near Wright's Station, was for sale and had been inspected by a number of Portland real estate men, but they all turned it down. It was for the blacksmith with some hard-earned accumulation to be the purchaser at Mr. Shockley's own price.

Simeon, as he is best known, about one year ago paid over the cash and took possession. After building a more comfortable home and other improvements, Simeon figured in the property investment $3500. He could see nothing but an ideal place for a home and farming. Simeon Sabot's bachelor home was somewhat disturbed when there appeared at the door the knock of James McBain, a marble dealer and contractor of Hood River. Contractor McBain wanted to negotiate a 25 years' lease. Particularly on that portion where stood the upright columns or pillars of rock near the river at the base of the mountain, which settlers know by the Indian name "Sah-ha-le La-mon-la."

A lease for five years was agreed upon. Soon blasting was heard and near a score of Belgium cutters were at work.

Then followed a quarry siding and at the same time appeared overhead cables from the quarry to the floor of the unloaded car. The transfer is made quickly with little handling of the blocks. The average size of the blocks is six by six inches. The journeyman receive 2 1/2 cents for each pave cut and some of the workmen draw an average of $7 a day. For the last few months there has been a daily shipment of a carload of the paves to Portland.

Speaking of the rock, Contractor McBain said:

"It is a desirable basalt, free from the grizzly state and it polishes as smooth as glass, and while not a marble, it is very similar to the product of Aberdeen, Scotland."

When reminded that it would be convenient to draw down a rental from $5 to $10 a day, Simeon Sabot expressed his displeasure at the hoard of real estate men who are after him.

Mr. Sabot has been offered $5000 for his fruit and garden land and $10,000 for the quarry. He says he likes the Klickitat climate and has no desire to sell at those prices.

The quarry adds much to the industrial advance of Lyle and Klickitat Valley. It not only increases railroad revenues, but aids farmers and others. Contractor McBain estimates he will market 4,000,000 pave blocks in 1912. If his plans carry, more than $100,000 will be expended in labor."


Source:    "Morning Oregonian", December 11, 1911, Historic Oregon Newspapers Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, 2017.

Streets, and Street Improvements:

"During the soft months the mellow brown soil was quickly cut into mire, and trodden into mortar. Planks were first used. In about 1858 a macadam road was built out to the Red House, some three miles south, the first of its kind in the State. In 1865 the Nicholson pavement was laid on Front and First streets, and for a number of years was in great favor. It soon began to fail, however, due either to improper construction, or to the extremes of moisture and dryness of our seasons, and, quickly fell into condemnation. In the June floods, moreover, which occasionally overflowed the levee part of the city, it had to be weighted down with rock to be kept in place. As this pavement gave away, the Belgian block was substituted, and now prevails on Front, First and Second streets, from G street on the north, to Jefferson street (with some exception on Second street) on the south. It is a block clipped or split out from the basalt along the river, the principal quarry being near St. Helens. It is obtained in brick-shaped pieces, some 4x10x15 inches. The stone is hard and when evenly laid makes a firm, but noisy, road. By constant use, however, the corners of the blocks are worn down, making a sort of cobble stone surface, which is slippery and difficult to horses drawing heavy loads. Owing to the non-uniformity of the ground beneath, as to firmness, the old sections are becoming warped, hollows and bunches. The constant lifting of the blocks to repair sewer and water pipes, or for street railway purposes, has also worked toward an uneven surface. ...

Cross-walks of the streets are of plank or slabs of stone, the latter a foot or more in breadth by some four or five feet in length, laid treble. Many of them are granite, brought from England or China in ships as ballast, being most cheaply obtained in that manner.

The sidewalks in the business portion of the city are of stone squares, quarried from the hills, or, now almost universally, of the artificial stone, manufactured from sand. This is handsome and durable. Brick, with concrete dressing of fine gravel, was used a little in old times, and now remains on a few walks on Front street. The manufactured stone is used extensively around the blocks occupied by fine residences, but for the most part the walks are of plank. ...

In 1885 there were fifty-two and one-half miles of improved streets - thirty miles macadamized, three Belgian blocks, three and one-fourth planks, sixteen and one-fourth graded only."

p. 437 ...    "Passing from Couch's and Stark's tracts to Lownsdale's one reaches the region of retail houses, banks, offices, halls, hotels and churches. The streets are paved with Belgian block, basaltic stones cut in brick shape, making a durable roadway, but as the weather surfaces grown smooth, very severe on horses, sometimes giving them heavy falls."

p. 446 ...    "In 1876 the flood was particularly high, and stood for weeks. It was deemed useless to trifle any longer, and the grade was raised to a point above danger, and the streets paved with Belgian blocks."

Source:    Harvey Scott, 1890, History of Portland, Mason & Co., Portland.

"Seven basalt cobblestone rock quarries lie on the floodplain of the Columbia River approximately two miles north of Ridgefield, Washington. The floodplain here exhibits a rolling topography, characterized by basalt knolls surrounded by low areas of alluvia silt which are seasonally flooded. The quarries are located in the sides of these knolls, and a rock road of the same material connects the quarries with Lake River. The only visible remains of the quarry operations are the quarries and their associated piles of tailings, and the two sections of rock haul road. The walls of several of the quarries have fallen in, and they are overgrown with trees and brush.

One quarry and part of the rock haul road have been inventoried on an Archaeological Site Survey Record as 45-CL-113. This site is an extensive quarry located at the northeast end of a large meadow. A rock road runs across the meadow from the quarry to Lake River. ...

The Columbia River basalt outcroppings, which are Miocene to Pliocene in age, provide moderate relief ranging from zero to 40 feet. Thus, most of the knolls rise well above the high water line.

The knolls are covered with Oregon white oak savannah, while willow and other emergent and submergent marsh plants grow in the alluvial areas. A narrow belt of Oregon ash defines the high water line in some areas. Douglas fir grows on the highest ground at the eastern edge of the area.

Refuge management objectives on this unit are to preserve the natural Columbia River floodplain and to provide habitat for migrating waterfowl. The only active management within the nominated area is limited summer grazing by cattle. The area was probably being grazed at the time the quarries were in operation, since other parts of the unit have been farmed for over 100 years. Except for a limited amount of fencing and some jeep trails, the land retains its natural character.

Public use of the Carty Unit is generally limted to wildlife observation, hiking, fishing and berry picking. A self-guiding interpretive trail lies on the east end of the unit, partially within the nominated area and passing by one of the quarry sites. The area along the trail and around the south end of the nominated district is used extensively by school groups for environmental education.

Statement of Significance, 1880-1910.

The Basalt Cobblestone Quarries represent a significant technological period in the development of Portland, Oregon and other American cities, and a turn of the century industry in Ridgefield, Washington.

As Portland grew from a frontier village into an urban and commercial center in the second half of the Nineteenth Century, some sort of street improvements quickly became imperative. The rainy winter climate of Portland turned dirt streets into impassable muddy quagmires, while in summer the streets dried out into dust bowls.

Several different materials, including wooden planks and macadam, were used in the search for a satisfactory paving material that could withstand the extremes of Portland's climate. Beginning about 1880, basalt blocks were quarried near Ridgefield and barged upriver to Portland for use as paving material. The basalt was chipped into brick-shaped pieces of a standard size, called Belgian block, and laid on the streets. Sewer blocks were also cut from the quarries.

By 1885, three miles of Portland's streets were paved with Belgian block (1) and eventually the paving may have covered as much as 30 miles of streets (2) before its use was discontinued. It was used in both east and west Portland.

The stone was hard, and when it was evenly laid it made a firm - and noisy - street. Constant use created problems, however, because the corners of the blocks wore down. They formed a cobblestone surface that was slippery when wet and water froze in the joints during cold weather. Horses pulling heavy loads could not get traction on the slick surface. The unfirm ground on which the blocks were laid caused the paving to warp, and the constant lifting of the blocks for sewer and water line repairs (Portland doesn't have alleyways for utilities) and the installation of street car tracks also contributed toward an uneven surface. The Belgian block paving eventually proved as unsatisfactory as the other paving materials in use at the time.

Much of the cobblestone, or Belgian block, is still intact under the streets of Portland, having been covered over with asphalt. A survey by the city engineer's office estimates that there could be as much as 4.8 million square feet of the stones (3).

While most of the stones came from the Ridgefield quarries, the crosswalks were originally ships' ballast. Crosswalks of the streets were made of slabs of granite a foot wide and four to five feet long, laid treble. The granite was brought from England or China in ships as ballast (4). On the return trip, the ballast was replaced by cargo from the Pacific Northwest. This explains the presence of Chloris radiata, a hardy, tropical grass native to Jamaica, in Portland. It is unknown anywhere else in Oregon, but it can be found in Portland pushing up through the asphalt that covers the old cobblestones (5). Apparently the grass seed was on a cargo from a tropical port and became attached to the ballast, which then was used for street paving.

Portland City Ordinance No.139670, passed by the City Council in 1975, calls for the preservation of cobblestones excavated during construction and maintence activities on city streets. The cobblestones are warehoused by the City and are meant to be reused in appropriate civic historic restoration projects. In 1977, the City estimated it had 60,000 cleaned stones and 200,000 uncleaned stones on hand (6).

The stones have been reused in a number of park projects including a short path in Washington Park, curbs along the Rose City Golf Course, fill in around street tree plantings, and under benches in Pettygrove Park.

Although they represented a significant industry in Ridgefield, very little is recorded about the quarries from which the cobblestones were obtained. The James Carty family owned the land and John (Jack) McKie operated the quarries, apparently leasing the sites from the Cartys. McKie worked under contract to the Portland Contracting Company and employed many Ridgefield residents. ...

Work book pages in the possession of the McKie family indicate that the quarries were still in operation in April 1903, and the oral family history states that the contract expired in 1909 (10).

Although the local significance of the quarries was short-lived, they played a significant role in the economic and cultural growth of Nineteenth Century Portland and Ridgefield. Since Portland was not the only American city searching for a satisfactory paving material for its streets during the Nineteenth Century, on a national level the quarries represent an important technological experiment in the evolution of American cities."


(1) H.W. Scott, History of Portland, Oregon, (Syracuse, N.Y. 1890), p.206.
(2) The Sunday Oregonian, 19 May 1974.
(3) Oregon Journal, 15 July 1974.
(4) Scott, p.206.
(5) The Sunday Oregonian, 19 May 1974.
(6) Doug Bridges, memorandum to Bob Gustafson, (City of Portland, Oregon: Bureau to Planning), 15 June 1977.
(10) Mrs. Allan McKie, letter to James E. Carty, 28 May 1975.


Source:    Steven E. Thomsen, Bureau of Street & Structural Engineering, 1983, Report on Belgian Block Paving, City of Portland, Oregon, April 1983, and taken from the National Register of Historic Places, Inventory -- Nomination Form, "Archaeological Survey of Lower Lake River and Bachelor Island Slough, Clark County, Washington", September 1975, and "Cultural Resources Assessment of the Carty Unit, Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, Clark County, Washington.", October 1980.

"IN THE LATE 19th CENTURY, Portland's dirt streets kicked up dust in summer and turned to muddy ruts in winter. With the city's growth as a commercial center, Portland scrambled to improve the road system. In the 1880s, seven basalt quarries were established near here to meet the city's needs. John McKie leased the quarry land from the Carty family, the landowners at the time. McKie hired local workers to blast the basalt with dynamite, chip the rock into uniform bricks by hand and load them onto barges to be floated upriver to Portland. The city paved over 30 miles of streets with the blocks. The quarries were abandoned in 1909 as newer road building techniques came into fashion."


Source:    Information Sign, Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, Carty Unit, Ridgefield, Washington, 2014.

"After an investigation consuming several weeks in time, during which all the different methods and materials used in street paving were carefully considered, the city authorities of Portland have unanimously decided in favor of Belgian blocks to be used on all streets where heavy traffic is expected.

The awarding to Jeffrey and Bufton of one of the largest single contracts for street paving in the history of Portland is an event which will result in incalculable benefit to St. Helens and Columbia County. This community, possessing as it does, by far the largest supply of basaltic rock suitable for the manufacture of Belgian blocks in the State and of easy access will find through the decision of the Portland authorities, a ready market for an immense amount of this stone in the shape of Belgian blocks and crushed rock which is used in making the concrete foundation on which the blocks rest.

This contract, for which Philip Bros. of this city will furnish the blocks, will require 950,000 blocks. Laid down in Portland these blocks are worth $44 per thousand or a total of $41,800, which will be disbursed in this community in the following proportions: labor, which is by far the largest beneficiary, will receive in round figures, $33,250, leaving a balance of approximately $8,550 for the stone and transportation.

Figuring on a basis of two hundred blocks per day per man, which is a fair average, this means 4,750 days work, or 95 days steady employment for 50 skilled mechanics at good wages, beside the small army of laborers, teamsters, blacksmiths and others necessary in handling a contract of this magnitude.

Stone men are jubilant over the decision of the Portland officials and predict a bright future for the St. Helens stone market. It is believed that the awarding of this contract on Friday the 25th of this month, will lead to other and larger ones in the near future; in fact it is confidently expected that a similar contract will be let during the fall or early winter months, and the prestige that has been attained by St. Helens stone, leaves but little doubt that this stone will be specified by the Portland officials."

"It is with pleasure we congratulate St. Helens on the continued good prospects in the paving block cutting business. The contract recently secured by Philip Bros. for 950,000 blocks to be laid in the 14th street district, around the North Bank Depot in Portland, and another contract of equal size for the same neighborhood filed for publication by the city engineer, will mean great activity in the stone business in this city.

These two contracts will bring about seventy thousand dollars into St. Helens and Houlton.

It is gratifying to see that the authorities at Portland recognize the superior qualities of stone paved streets for heavy traffic.

Both the stone crushing plants are running day and night and this years output will double that of any previous year.

Any city that can supply men with steady employment and the good wages that St. Helens does needs no special boosting.

Such a condition makes this city a place where industrious men deserve to come and make a home for themselves."


Source:    "St. Helens Mist", September 1, 1911, courtesy Historic Oregon Newspapers archives, University of Oregon Libraries, 2014.

"St. Helens, the home of the Belgian paving block, should forthwith present its claim in a forcible manner to the authorities having in charge of the work of paving the seventy miles of highway in Multnomah county as a prospective, meritorious and deserving candidate as the supply source for a great deal of the material to be consumed in that enormous volume of public work. This claim would not have to be based upon any sentimental assumption, but upon the fact of genuine merit, backed by dollar for dollar value.

There is no patent paving material that is in any manner whatever a competitor of the Belgian block in point of durability. A pvaement laid with the idea of carrying heavy traffic, certainly should be laid with no other material. This, of course, is the foremost reason for presenting the cause of the Belgian block to the consideration of the prospective customer.

However, its claims for favor are many. In the first place, the Belgian block is strictly a home product. In this respect, also, it has no competitor. And further, too, being a strictly home product, all the expenditures in its employment as a paying material would immediately flow back into the channels of home commercialism. Furthermore, Belgian blocks is the only paving material which has no cost for the raw material. Nature's lavish hand in placing this superior basaltic formation at our disposal has made it possible to utilize it at a comparatively low cost.

A Belgian block pavement is the only one that can be guaranteed to stand up under heavy traffic. It makes no difference what other class of paving material is used or by whom it is placed, the consumer cannot expect to have a guarantee of its durabiltiy. No contractor will guarantee patent paving material at all. With the Belgian block no guarantee would be necessary. Its durability has for many years been an undisputed fact.

The portion of the highway from the oil tanks, in the vicinity of Linnton, to Portland, is, no doubt, carrying the heaviest traffic of any section of road in the state. Approximately 100 ten-ton auto trucks make the trip daily from the tanks to the city. No ptent paving can long withstand such a severe test. The distance from the oil tanks to the city is approximately two miles. It is proposed to surface that section of the highway to a width of eighteen feet. For that work it would require approximately 900,000 regulation-size Belgian blocks, and even though the first cost of the improvement by the use of stone blocks were greater, the ultimate cost would be nominal, as future cost of repair would be entirely eliminated.

Portland has sent into the ocffers of foreign institutions during the last decade hundreds of thousands of dollars for paving material. Vitrified, or Seattle brick has been extensively used for paving the streets of the Oregon metropolis. The money so expended built up foreign institutions at the cost of the home product. The test of times has demonstrated the fallacy of such business methods. The use of the wooden block, another strictly local product, and excelled for standing up under heavy traffic only by the Belgian block, ahas been industriously avoided, greatly to the discredit of the authorities and to the financial loss of the community at large. The merit of the Belgian block should be presented to the Multnomah county authorities in the most convincing manner possible by business interests of this community. Certainly, it does seem that out of the great volume of material to be consumed in paving the 70 miles of Multnomah county roads, such a meritorious local material as Belgian blocks should be given the consideration which is due it." ."


Source:    "St. Helens Mist", April 23, 1915, courtesy Historic Oregon Newspapers archives, University of Oregon Libraries, 2014