From Dark Hollow Quarry to Michigan Central Station

Posted on by farlane
Removing a Limestone block from the quarry

Quarrying limestone for Michigan Central Station

A post on the Historic Detroit Facebook reminded me of this great post the Christman Company shared last year about the care for detail in the renovation of Detroit’s Michigan Central Station that extended even to getting limestone from the original quarry:

At Michigan Central Station, much of the building’s limestone — 600 tons of it — had deteriorated from three decades of uncontrolled water into the building. Research and good teamwork led to finding the original, uniquely banded limestone source, the Dark Hollow Quarry in Bedford, Indiana. The only problem: it had closed in 1988, the same year as Michigan Central Station.

Luckily, quarried blocks had been left on site, but were now surrounded by 30-year-old trees! A new access road was installed, trees removed, and truckloads of raw blocks — the largest single piece over 20 tons — were sent to Bridgeport, Michigan for fabrication. Skillfully sequenced for reinstallation, the restored limestone facade, from the front to the back of Michigan Central Station, matches perfectly with the skill of marvelous teamwork.

Marvelous indeed. We’ll continue to share more about this iconic Detroit structure that officially reopened June 6, 2024. Head over to the Christman Company’s post on Facebook for more pics as well as info about the process and all the contractors involved. For sure check out much more Michigan Central on Michigan in Pictures & for sure follow Historic Detroit for all kinds of cool Detroit content!

Here’s a couple more shots along with a few of mine from last July soon after the station re-opened.

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4 thoughts on “From Dark Hollow Quarry to Michigan Central Station”

  1. I had not heard/read that info on the limestone – very interesting. That was a painstaking and tedious job to recreate Michigan Central Depot to how it looks today and akin to the restoration (but on a smaller scale) of Fair Lane Estate, Henry and Clara’s Ford’s home in Dearborn, which has been undergoing extensive renovation for about a decade now. I follow Fair Lane, Home of Clara and Henry Ford, on Facebook and I am amazed at how they are recreating every intricate detail to restore the house to its glory.

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      1. You were lucky to do that because a fellow blogger was coming to Detroit last Fall and they had lined up some stuff to do like the Ford Piquette Plant and Rouge Plant/Greenfield Village tours, so I suggested the train station. The tours were booked up solid four months after they opened. No, I didn’t know there was a tour last weekend – I am interested in taking a tour as I never went inside when they had the original tours before they started the restoration. I was thinking when they are done, I might get a one-year membership to do a tour. I didn’t know about the Recycle Here – thanks for the link. It’s been there 17 years they say. You should do a post about your experience working there for Earth Day, April 22nd.

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