The abandoned lime kilns at Eagle Rock, Virginia are all that remain of an operation that was operated by a series of entities between 1878 and 1954.
The abandoned lime kilns at Eagle Rock, Virginia are all that remain of an operation that was operated by a series of entities between 1878 and 1954.
It was opened by the Eagle Rock Co-Operational Association No. 325 of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry to produce lime which was sold to the many iron furnaces in the area as it was used as a catalyst in the production of pig iron, while others were sold to farmers for agricultural needs or for whitewash. Lime was shipped by wagon or packet boats along the James River & Kanawha Canal.
In January 1881, the Eagle Rock Co-Op sold its holdings to the newly formed F.E. Sheets & Company which was acquired by the Moore Lime Company of Richmond in 1885. The firm was taken over by the Virginia Lime Products Company in 1933. The Eagle Rock Lime Company, which operated on the south side of the James River, purchased the holdings of Virginia Lime Products in 1942 and continued to operate the facility until 1954 when all lime production operations at Eagle Rock ceased.
These kilns are all that remain of the Eagle Rock operations and can be seen from the road.
