KAOLIN QUARRY, Blandford, Mass. During the last decade of the Nineteenth Century a large deposit of kaolin, or kaolinite which is a more specific name for this particular kind of clay, was worked in Blandford by the Blandford Brick and Tile Company. A plant or mill was erected in Russell for the processing of the kaolinite and many fine white bricks were made. Operations apparently ceased about 1900.

The Springfield Republican of December 6, 1890. “Sworn analyses by chemists of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology show the existence of a bed of kaolin of the most valuable sort and in a quantity that is known to exceed 80,000 tons. The old quarry which produced the kaolinite can easily be found by entering a small wooded area on the left side of Route No. 23 just as one arrives in the thickly settled area of Blandford Street. “The pit, now almost completely filled with mud, water and accumulated trash, is very near the road. On the far side of the muck hole, partly altered feldspar appears in large crumbly masses. From some of the firmer pieces specimens of good quality graphic granite can be obtained, but the site now yields little else of mineralogical interest.”

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