Pacific Cement Gravel Plant
Listen recording
One of Pacific’s early industries was the Pacific Cement Gravel Plant. It was located just outside the city limits, past the Alton Box Board company, near the Frisco Railroad bridge across the Meramec river.
read more
The gravel was mixed with red clay, which is characteristic of this area; so the plant was nicknamed “red gravel plant.” This red cement-like gravel was widely used by the City of Pacific to pave its streets. Loads of gravel were also shipped on the Frisco Railroad to St. Louis and other towns for paving and other uses. These photographs from the Funke Collection show most of the plant’s operation. In contrast to today’s automated modern machinery, all of the equipment was horse drawn. First, all the gravel was blasted from the quarry. The plow was then employed to turn the gravel over, making it loose enough to be scraped into the waiting box cars on the Frisco Railroad for shipment.