KYROCK
Edmonson County, Edmonson County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
KYROCK. Bituminous sandstone, better known as rock asphalt, composed of silica sand that is saturated with oil. Chief deposits in Ky. were found in Edmonson Co. along the Nolin River. Primarily used in road construction, it could be applied without heating and mixing. Ky. Rock Asphalt Co. (KYROCK) was the world’s largest producer of natural rock asphalt from 1920 until it closed in 1957. (Reverse) Henry “Harry” St. George Carmichael was the first president of KYROCK from 1921 until his death in 1949. The company town of Kyrock included hotels, church, hospital, theater, post office, commissary, railroad, electric & water systems, and school on this site. More than 2000 people depended on KYROCK for their livelihood during WWI and II and the Great Depression.
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
In the hills of Edmonson County along the Nolin River, Kentucky held one of the world's richest deposits of bituminous sandstone — a natural blend of silica sand and oil known as rock asphalt. Beginning in 1920, the Kentucky Rock Asphalt Company mined and shipped this 'KYROCK,' a paving material that could be laid without the heating and mixing that ordinary asphalt required, making it the world's largest producer of natural rock asphalt for nearly four decades. Around the quarries rose a full company town: hotels, a hospital, a theater, a commissary, a school, and its own railroad, electric, and water systems, all built to serve the industry. When the deposits played out and cheaper petroleum asphalt took over, the company closed in 1957 and the town faded with it.
Why it matters
KYROCK captures the American company-town story in miniature — an entire community conjured from a single natural resource, sustaining more than 2,000 people through two world wars and the Great Depression before the market moved on and left a ghost town behind.
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Related people
- · Henry "Harry" St. George Carmichael
Related events
- · World War I
- · World War II
- · Great Depression
Themes & tags
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