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Lime Kiln Park Reef Outcrops

Lime Kilns at Lime Kiln County Park, Gafton, Wisconsin.
Lime Kilns at Lime Kiln County Park, Gafton, Wisconsin.

Lime Kiln Park in Grafton, WI contains two small reefs exposed in the southwestern walls of an old quarry. These reefs reach 5 meters in thickness and 60 meters in breadth. Historic lime kilns still stand in the park, where dolostone was roasted to produce lime for building and agricultural uses.

The park is located between Highway 57 and the Milwaukee River between Grafton and Cedarburg, Wisconsin. The quarry is easily accessible from Milwaukee and Chicago by I-43. The locatility also is within short driving distance from Green Bay, Madison, and other Wisconsin cities.

The rocks from this quarry were used primarily for lime, but also apparently some were used as building stone. In the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church 4 miles away in Saukville, Wisconsin fossil crinoid stems and favositid coral are visible in the stonework of the church, which was built in 1875.

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