Above: A shot of Arkansas Lime Company’s plant taken from Bethesda Road in Independence County.
On his social media page Monday, Independence County Judge Kevin Jeffery wished a happy anniversary to a longtime local limestone facility.
Arkansas Lime Company, a subsidiary of United States Lime & Minerals Inc. (USLM), is celebrating its 100th anniversary at its Limedale location. Located about five miles northwest of Batesville, Arkansas Lime provides high-quality lime to steel, paper, water treatment, and construction companies.
According to Kenneth Rorie’s entry in the Central Arkansas Library System’s Encyclopedia of Arkansas:
“The Arkansas Lime Company began in Ruddells (Izard County) in 1906 as the Young Lime Company by Edgar Young, who had been in the employ of the Denieville lime plant on the Cushman branch of the railroad. The father-and-son team of George and Junius Case took control of the company in 1907, incorporating the company as the Arkansas Lime Company in 1910. The company relocated to its present site of Limedale in 1924 on the recommendation of mining engineer George Weigart, and the name was changed to Batesville White Lime Company; their product was known as polar bear lime. During 1930s, the company came under the control of stockholders outside the region. It became part of the Rangaire Corporation of Texas in 1962, merging with two other local lime companies. In 2002, the company became a subsidiary of the United States Lime and Materials of Dallas, Texas, at which time it became the Arkansas Lime Company.”
According to the USLM website, Arkansas Lime operates a quarry and plant in Independence County with three preheater rotary kilns that can produce 630,000 tons of quicklime each year.
The company also has hydrated lime and limestone production facilities on a second site that’s linked to the quarry by its own railroad (pictured below). USLM says the production facilities have the capacity to produce 300,000 tons of pulverized limestone.
USLM also operates lime and limestone facilities in Colorado, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Independence County is also home to Midwest Lime Company, a leading supplier of high quality, high calcium, chemical grade limestone. Midwest Lime Company, located off North St. Louis Street (Highway 167) and has been in business since 1965.
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