I have around a dozen stories to left produce and about two hours of writing time planned for the day. Yike. That being said, after the end of the month, the project will continue for a few weeks as I make my way through the backlog interviews/experiences. So, don’t go anywhere for too long.
For this morning, just a preview of yesterday morning:
I went to Casket Quarry in West Duluth with Paul Lundgren and Barrett Chase.
We talked imaginary castles, throwing stuff off cliffs, keggers, and growing up in West Duluth. I’ll put together an audio piece from the conversation soon.
Barrett and I also did some urban exploration in West Duluth, including historic bar murals, a beautiful copper ceiling in an Italian restaurant, fascinating junk, and dice:
Why was it called Casket Quarry?
From co-guide Paul: “According to a comment on this PDD post, Casket Quarry was named by climbers. Barrett mentioned this today, but we both kind of forgot where we’d heard that.”
There’s also a much more colorful/common nickname for the quarry that’s not FCC-compliant. I will leave that unstated for now as foreshadowing.
Not that this blog needs to be FCC-compliant.
To specifically answer the question, there used to be a burial vault company near the entrance to the quarry, so climbers would have to pass by stacks of burial vaults before their climb. The quarry’s facade is very crumbly, making for a dangerous climb, so the climbers were typically unnerved by the vaults. The name is a bit of gallows humor, I guess.
Another story I’ve heard is that old headstones from the nearby Oneota Cemetery were mined from the quarry, but I don’t have any sources to back that up.
Wow. Redolent with wank.