The WPA Quarry

From approximately 1932 through 1938, the WPA operated a quarry in Monroe City on the Hirsch farm.  Hank Fults was the manager and Alert Diemert worked there.  They dynamited the bluff rock and then broke up the big pieces with a sledgehammer.  The shoveled the rock into a crusher which broke it into small aggregate which could be spread on the surrounding roadways or used in concrete. 

The quarry was only 200 yards from the new Monroe City School.  When Harold R was in 2nd grade, he thought the quarry looked interesting.  One day, he played hookie and tagged along with Fults and Diemert all day at the quarry.   He remembers pushing the fuse into dynamite sticks with a wooden peg, packing the top with mud and then running the fuse over the top of the hill to a protected place.  Fults let him light the fuse.  A giant firecracker for an 8 year old!  

Eventually, the school teacher complained that rocks hit the school property when they blasted, so they agreed to blast after school was out.