Marlboro Cement Plant

On Saturday October 5th, Arturo, Chris and I headed over to the abandoned Marlboro Cement Plant.  I understand that the site was shut down around a century ago... in the late 1920's or early 1930's.  Marl was mined on the site and large kilns were used to dry it and make it into cement. 

According to Wikipedia....   Marl, is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays and silt.  It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae.  Marl has been used in the manufacture of Portland cement.  It is abundant and yields better physical and mechanical properties than metakaolin as a supplementary cementitious material, and can be calcined at a considerably lower temperature.

Whatever the reason, manufacturing ceased on the site around a century ago.  I understand that later the site was used by some forestry companies, perhaps to make use of the railway spur that once served the cement plant.  The CNR mainline passes by, a short distance to the south.

The remains of the concrete structures on the site are deteriorating and have been badly vandalized by graffiti artists.  We didn't spend a lot of time photographing these, but we were fascinated by a bunch of the old vehicles left laying around.  Given the age of the vehicles these are obviously not associated with the cement plant and probably came from the later forestry activities.

While we were set up with our cameras a man walked by with his son and commented about what a fascinating site it was.  Later as he was leaving he warned us that he had seen an individual in one of the tunnels under the ruins, wearing an orange Oilers jersey, carrying a pick axe, and obviously high on something.  We never did see the guy, but given some of the rubbish left lying around, and the significant amounts of graffiti, it is not surprising if it has become a hangout for the homeless and the addicted.

This was just a brief visit for us and we really enjoyed the fall colors and the crisp autumn light.  I'm sure I came away with a couple of good images.  Once we finished here and packed up, we headed for our primary destination for the day...  The Coal Branch Hotel in Robb, and another episode of the Beer Parlour Project.