The Superior Express -

If you live in or near Jewell County, you know most of the well traveled country roads are covered with crushed limestone rock. In several choice spots in the county, the rock can be found underneath the grass covered lands, or even standing out on its own along a hill. East of Burr Oak, there are several open natural mounds of the limestone that can be seen. I imagine that is why the early settlers and along the creek decided to name the creek “White Rock Creek.” The creek winds its way from near Lebanon, north of Esbon, and beside Burr Oak, where it meets up with the Burr Oak Creek, and travels on eastward into Lovewell Lake before reaching the Republican River near Republic. The valley can be seen coming into Burr Oak from the south or north. It stretches west and eastward and is called “White Rock Valley.”

When Burr Oak and Esbon school districts decided to combine, an appropriate name for the newly formed school was “White Rock!” There are townships named “Limestone” and “White Mound” in Jewell County. It is probable they were named for the stone beneath their top soil.

The ground up white limestone rock makes a good all-weather covering for the roadways. Some country roads, such as in the Limestone Valley, which it too was appropriately named, does not have to have the crushed limestone rock added as the road is already naturally covered with the rock, especially in the hills.

The limestone pits where the rock is dug out of are often seen. One is on the hilltop of Mt. Carmel, one of the highest points in Jewell County. Another high spot in the county where the rock is gathered and hauled is right west of Jewell and called Scarbough Hill. The earliest settlers used to go up on Scarbough Hill and view thousands of buffalo as they traveled through. Many other limestone pits are scattered over the county.

It is said that there is a harder limestone found south of Formoso, and in the Randall area. Limestone blocks were cut in these areas and hauled to make early day business buildings. The rock was used in making of the historic Jewell County Jail House, the county courthouse and the early day Burr Oak School House. It was also used in some of the early churches, school houses and in the construction of homes. Some of these limestone buildings are still standing.

Fence posts were also made of the limestone rock, when suitable wood was hard to find. Some of the limestone fence posts can still be spotted along the pastures. Some posts are used today as yard ornaments with the farmstead or home owner’s names carved into them.

There is nothing like this limestone rock when it’s covered the roadways and it is wet from a heavy rain. It sticks to everything that travels the roads. During dry spells the limestone becomes dust especially where it is heavily traveled. The dust blows everywhere, covering everything only to be taken off with the next rain shower.

I remember years ago traveling into a neighboring state with our car covered with limestone dust and mud. We stopped for gasoline at a station along the route. The young station attendant asked us where in the world we were from as he’d never seen a car covered with that “white stuff.”

No matter where you go in Jewell County, you’ll see the limestone rock. It may be covering a hillside along Highway 36, standing out of a hillside, a mushroom mound in a pasture, in the structure of an early day building, around a fire pit in the back yard, used as a yard boundary or yard ornament, along a pasture pond dam, and of course crushed covering a country road. It’s a farm wife’s worst nightmare when it comes to household dusting and sweeping, yet having it on the country roads is certainly better then traveling on the dirt roads when they are wet.