By Susan Tietz,
Architect and Coordinator of the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program.
William Floyd and his wife Elizabeth Ford Floyd traveled in a
covered wagon with their three children from Grassy Cove, Tenn. to Fannin
County in North Texas in January 1859. Elizabeth carried their toddler son on
foot for most of the journey because he was wagon sick.
Shortly after William arrived in Honey Grove, he
approached three businessmen and borrowed money in a clever round-robin scheme
to purchase and quarry about 6,000 acres of limestone-laden land just south of
town. He opened the Floyd Quarry and supplied smooth, cream-colored “Gober
Chalk” limestone for the construction of churches, banks, mercantiles, and
other commercial buildings across northeast Texas.
Once exposed to UV light and oxygen, the masonry
transformed from a soft, mustard color to a perfect building material that was
hard and a bright, light yellow. Several public buildings such as schools, city
halls, and the Red River County Courthouse in Clarksville were constructed of
Floyd Quarry limestone.
William became successful and was able to
honor his wife’s request that he purchase a new suit so he could attend church.
Eventually, Elizabeth purchased cloth to make a dress for herself so she could
join him. When McKenzie Methodist in Honey Grove built its church in 1880, the
building was constructed with Floyd Quarry limestone under William’s
supervision. During construction, a large masonry unit fell, crushing
William’s leg and eventually causing his death in 1883.
When Red River County received a grant to restore its 1884
Second Empire courthouse from the Texas Historical Commission’s (THC) Texas
Historic Courthouse Preservation Program in 2000, some of the badly
deteriorated limestone needed to be replaced. While all limestone may look
alike, it is in fact extremely difficult to match the original masonry on a
historic building unless you use stone removed from the original quarry.
The Floyd Quarry closed in 1904, but when the THC
approached Mary Pauline Yarborough, owner of the quarry and great-granddaughter
of William Floyd, she graciously agreed to reopen it. She gave the mason
permission to remove limestone from the quarry that provided a perfect match to
the stone first used to construct the Red River County Courthouse. In 2002, the
THC honored Yarborough for her family’s contribution with its Award of
Excellence in Historic Architecture for “significant contribution in the
preservation of Texas architectural heritage and craftsmanship.”
Now, 20 years later, Yarborough has once again agreed to reopen
the quarry to supply over 35 tons of limestone for restoration work on the
Fannin County Courthouse in nearby Bonham. That building was originally
constructed of limestone from the Gober Quarry, immediately adjacent to her
great-grandfather’s quarry.
In 1965, Yarborough was heartbroken to watch the
beautifully carved and cut limestone obscured by the application of a modern
panel system applied directly to the stone of the Fannin County Courthouse.
Finally, those panels and the black, sticky adhesive on the courthouse’s
historic limestone facade have been removed to reveal badly damaged and
deteriorated stone.
The restoration work ahead is extensive and
will include removing the black stains left by the adhesive, as well as carving
and installing dozens of decorative stone features that were removed from all
sides of the courthouse during the 1960s alteration. Thanks in part to the
Floyd Quarry, Fannin County’s courthouse restoration will be completed sometime
next year.
https://www.thc.texas.gov/blog/rock-out
