The Story of Lime and the Lime Kilns of Lancaster County

by Kenneth G. Miller

Lime is a white, powdery substance widely used in construction, agriculture, and industry. It is manufactured by heating limestone. Small amounts may be produced in an open fire but more effectively when enclosed. Early pits were lined with stone and in time enclosed in an oven or kiln. The 19th-century lime kiln, of Roman design, was a large "pot" dug into a hillside, surrounded by a stone box resembling a huge fireplace. Many thousands were built in the Susquehanna River valley. During settlement of "Penn's Woods," large tracts were subdivided many times, and by 1925 we find 12,000 farms in Lancaster County alone, and nearly every farmer wanted to produce his own lime to sweeten the fields and make mortar, plaster, and whitewash. In the most recent record, the 1875 county atlas, we find more than 500 kilns, a peak time for "do it yourself" lime burning. Commercialization relieved the farmer of the hard and dangerous work of lime burning, and the kilns fell idle around the turn of the century. Today we find evidence of 128 extant kilns in the county. Some are little more than remnants of former stonework, but others remain sturdy and sound. Their photos in this book reveal the art and labor of our ancestors who played a major role in the development of our nation.

192 pages, Hardcover

Published November 28, 2020

Reviews

[Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book really shines in its latter half: the author’s survey of all of the 128 extant lime kilns of Lancaster County, PA. The photos of each kiln are beautiful, and made even better by the extra details on each kiln. The embellishments include vignettes on the ecology of dying lime kilns (the plants and animals thriving in and breaking down the stones), local stories recounted by the current property owners, and other wonderful nuggets such as a plug for Shenk’s Cup Cheese.

The opening section, an ambitious history of the production of lime throughout the world, is also quite interesting. Miller tells us the story of lime from the Levant’s prehistory to today, a story more than 10,000 years long. There are also tantalizing scant references to lime production in the rest of the world, in places like Mesoamerica, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines. The reference to PNG is a single picture, with no detail in the text. I would like to have seen more detail on these and the Mesoamerican history, especially since it’s a cornerstone of the cuisine in the latter (and was apparently important in the construction of the monumental cities of that region)!

This is a wonderful book, especially as someone from the area who is interested in overlooked ecological niches.

[Empress_Solace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book