Charles Pfizer & Co. Inc. Quarry, Gibsonburg, Sandusky County, Ohio, USAi

Regional Level Types
Charles Pfizer & Co. Inc. Quarry	Quarry
Gibsonburg	Village
Sandusky County	County
Ohio	State
USA	Country

The Charles Pfizer Co. Quarry was a large operation located in section 14, Gibsonburg, Ohio. According to Carlson (1991), the rocks exposed in the quarry belong to the Silurian Lockport Dolomite Formation.

The quarry opened at the turn of the 20th century as part of the Standard Lime Company. According to Orton and Peppel (1906), the plant and quarry was ...one of the best and most substantially built plants in the state, although not the largest in capacity (p. 360). The Standard Lime Company plant was considered modern and innovative at the time.

Many years later the Standard Lime Company became the Gibsonburg Lime Products Corporation Quarry (Stout, 1941), though Stout did not personally visit the locality, he did visit the Sandusky Lime Association Quarry (now the White Star Quarry), nearby.

In 1962, the Charles Pfizer Co. purchased the quarry and it became the Charles Pfizer Co., Inc. Quarry afterwards (City of New York v. Charles Pfizer Co., 1999). The plant continued to quarry out dolostone until the early 1980s when Pfizer decided to flood the quarry. Although the quarry itself is flooded, the Pfizer Co. still owns the property and it remains a closed locality.

The Charles Pfizer Co. Quarry was known for producing excellent fluorite specimens. The most unusual fluorite specimens from the Charles Pfizer Co. Quarry were large brown cubes that showed unusual iridescence, some even taking a green and even a purplish iridescent color, which has never been seen in any other Ohio quarry. Excellent specimens can be seen on the color plates between pages 82 and 83 in Ernest Carlson's, Minerals of Ohio (1991). Fluorites from this locality are very rare and are typically only found in local collections or museums.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

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