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Dear editor,
When you look at the City of Jasper Minnesota’s website, you will see “Home of the Quartzite” One of the World’s Hardest Stones.
Since 1888, Jasperites have been bragging about our beloved rock. The founders named the town Jasper, thinking that this pink stone was actually the mineral Jasper, which it is not, but that is another story. The school chose “Quartziters” as the team name for sports etc. Jasper’s annual summer celebration is called “Quartziter Days” Yes, this is very old news for most people, but let’s dig a bit deeper into quartzite (pun intended).
According to Wikipedia, when searching “Sioux Quartzite” this is what you’ll find:
The Sioux Quartzite … is found in the region around the intersection of Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa,… In human history, it provided the catlinite, or pipestone, that was used by the Plains Indians to carve ceremonial pipes. With the arrival of Europeans, it was heavily quarried for building stone, and was used in many prominent structures in Sioux Falls, S.D. and shipped to construction sites around the Midwest. Sioux Quartzite has been and continues to be quarried in Jasper, Minnesota at the Jasper Stone Company and Quarry, which itself was posted to the National Register of Historic Places on January 5, 1978. Jasper, Minnesota contains many turn-of-the-century quartzite buildings, including the school, churches and several other public and private structures, mostly abandoned.
Interestingly, the town of Jasper is the only town mentioned when referring to a quarry of Sioux Quartzite. We do know there are others but many stones for building great buildings came from our very own site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Wikipedia page lists these local structures as being on the National Register of Historic Places:
•John Rowe House, Jasper, Minnesota, 1903, National Register of Historic Places 1980
•Jasper High School, Jasper, Minnesota, 1911 (main building) 1939 (auditorium and gymnasium) 1957 (agriculture and band room addition)
•Bauman Hall, Jasper, Minnesota, constructed in 1891, National Register of Historic Places, 1979
This beautiful, nearly indestructible building material is not only loved in Jasper but in far-away places as well.
•George W. and Nancy B. Van Dusen House, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1888, 12,000 ft2, National Register of Historic Places 1995
•David Whitney House, Detroit, Michigan, 1894, 21,000 ft2, National Register of Historic Places 1972
•John Pierce House, Sioux City Iowa, 1893, 23 rooms, National Register of Historic Places
•Fowler Methodist Episcopal Church, 1894, Minneapolis (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sioux_Quartzite)
Our stone beautifully decorates Sioux Falls in numerous locations, adorning plaques of proof.
The Jasper Quartzite is mentioned in many books, articles, and news clips arguably making Jasper the CenterPoint of this incredible American Lore. Therefore it was very disturbing and alarming to hear these words uttered from Mayor Mike Baustian’s mouth:
“Tonight (9-21-21) I want to address the council as a concerned resident of Jasper… The people that built our town were no doubt hardworking, talented men and women who wanted to improve their lives and set the town of Jasper up for a prosperous future. And they did using their current day building materials. The town was built with our local stone and now one-hundred years later these buildings are reaching their life expectancy and it’s time to rebuild our town with current day energy efficient sustainable buildings so Jasper can be here for another hundred years. [captured on video]”
Interestingly the above listed Sioux Quartzite buildings are well over 100 years old, some are 133 years old. Baustian speaks without researching, and according to a preservation fact sheet: Older retrofitted buildings have 50-80 year lifespan vs 30-40 for new construction. Buildings built prior to the 1960’s, when retrofitted, are more energy efficient than their modern counterparts. (docs.google.com/document/d/1LjpRNWHSLgY71IlpF5Oj8RRcoiJD4nG5NQQn-bFRKZE/edit)
These modern buildings Baustian speaks of, might have a 40 year lifespan with no reason to preserve them. (www.google.com/books/edition/Industrial_Minerals_Rocks/zNicdkuulE4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=sioux+falls+has+many+locations+built+of+quartzite+from+jasper&pg=PA843&printsec=frontcover) Page 843 is another source
Randy Larson
Jasper
Please comment to Randy, P.O. Box 67, Jasper, MN 56144