The Quarry
Located on Calera Creek at Rockaway Beach.
In 1776-77, Spanish soldiers quarried lime here for the Presidio in San Francisco. In 1907, the Rockaway Beach quarry was established as a continuously-operating commercial entity known as the Stone Brothers. After construction of the Ocean Shore Railroad in 1907, limestone from this quarry was conveyed to assist with the rebuilding of San Francisco after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Quarry materials were actually used as ballast for the trackbed of the railroad; moreover, after completion of the railroad, Rockaway Beach was considered a suburb of San Francisco, due to convenient access. This all changed after legal problems resulting from landslide repair caused the railroad to go bankrupt in 1921. Highway 1 was completed from Montara to Rockaway Beach in 1937, thereby reopening the local area again to easy northern access. Horace Hill operated the quarry from the early 1940s to 1953, along with a profitable sand dredging business on the quarry's backside. Ideal Cement took over the quarry operation after that time and owned it until 1971; later operators were Rhodes and Jamison and Quarry Products. The quarry ceased operation in 1987, and plans for the quarry have been a controversial topic since then.
Photo by Dorothea Lange