Carmeuse Limestone, Cedarville Plant
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| Huge amounts of limestone leave this port by freighter every week. |
Freighters take on loads of limestone at Port Dolomite in McKay Bay, on the eastern edge of Les Cheneaux. Outsiders can't come in the compound, but it's easy to pull off M-134 a bit east of the plant entrance and watch the spectacle. 20,000 to 50,000 tons of limestone are loaded onto self-unloading lake freighters from 500 to 1,000 feet long. Limestone is quarried on some of the company's thousands of acres of property six miles inland from the port. Little trains, about one an hour, bring limestone to the plant, where it is crushed and loaded. Huge trucks with giant tires haul crushed limestone from a staging area to the port. In a major capital improvement, the plant was rebuilt in 2007 to provide increased production for years to come.
Currently about four to six ships a week arrive to be loaded, from April into December, weather depending. Call (906) 484- 2201 for the vessel schedule. See boatnerd.com for vessel locations.
The quarries here, at Gulliver, and at Rogers City used to be part of Oglebay Norton, a venerable 150-year-old Cleveland company that is no more. Today they and 31 other North American operations are part of the world-wide operations of Carmeuse Lime & Stone, a privately held Belgian company founded in 1860.
On M-134, four miles east of Cedarville. No admittance to plant. Pull over on M-134 east of plant to watch boats.
Return to Cedarville
POINTS OF INTEREST
Gerstacker Preserve. 890-acre stunning bedrock shoreline preserve has rare plants. 2+ miles of trails wind through dunes, forests. See loons, pileated woodpeckers. Swim off sandy beach. ... more
Government Island. This island of birch and conifers, the only public island among Les Cheneaux, is a nice picnic or camping destination, with a swimming beach ... more
Great Lakes Boat Building School. In this region long known for fine wooden boats there is now an impressive school teaching the art ... more
Les Cheneaux Historical Museum. Exhibits and excellent videos illuminate the natural history development of the Cedarville/Hessel area, from Indian artifacts to lumber camps and tourist and resort eras. ... more
Safe Harbor Books. This personal bookshop has a good selection of regional, Great Lakes maritime and nature books, plus rubber stamping supplies. ... more
Les Cheneaux Maritime Museum. Boats & boat-related things in a 1920s boathouse: sailboats, canoes, rowboats, old photos ... more
Prentiss Bay Marsh. Scores of nesting boxes for tree swallows are scattered across this wetland. ... more
Cedarville Wi-fi Hotspot. Les Cheneaux Public Library has wi-fi 24/7 in parking lot. Open Tues, Wed & Fri 11-5, Thur 11-8, Sat 10-3. 75 E. Hodeck St., south from I-134. ... more
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