Today Jim, Alfie & I took a walk over to the new park that was built on the site of the old Stearns Quarry. Millenia ago, massive reefs formed in the sea that lay across what is now Chicago. The subsurface limestone deposits that formed there eventually supplied the stone which was used to build the cit yof Chicago. Stearns Quarry was the very first quarry in Chicago, openeing in the 1830s and continuously mined until 1970.
Soon after the quarry closed, the 380 foot hole was filled with waste ash from Chicago's (now defunct) Northwest Incinerator for over 16 years. It has now evolved into a beautiful new Chicago park and nature reserve, complete with walking trails, and soon a fishing hole!
Because the quarry was filled in with waste, it is actually quite high, and the walk to the top takes you up a graded path through native Illinois wild grasses and plants. The photo at the bottom shows Jim & Alfie rest at the top of the hill. Large rocks decorate the landscape.
