WORLD WAR...AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION

Another casualty of the new era was the quarry outside Steamboat Rock. Newer better building materiel such as bricks and concrete blocks were reducing the need for stone, and more decorative stone from far distances could now be brought in by rail. The plain brown sandstone found in the area became less desirable. The local quarry was last worked in the early 1930’s by the “CCC” who obtained stone for the Lodge, bridges, foot bridges. and the gateposts at Pine Lake. 

The stone masons and stone cutters who did much of the masonry work in the area over the years were Sam Jansen, James McConchie, Jerome Seabury, and Harry Grieves. 

One of the oldest houses in town was build by James McConchie’s father John. He built the home for George W. Sterns and his wife when they arrived in Steamboat Rock In 1857, from New York. John McConchie was one of the town’s first stone masons and plasterer. 

In 1867, on the death of Mr. Stern the house was sold to A. S. Root, the hotel owner. In the 1950’s it was owned by George and Lydia Potgeter, and today it is owned by the Neilson’s.