Basalt Rock Company

Basalt Rock Company was a multifaceted industrial operation that was founded in 1920. The company started as a rock quarrying operation located a few miles south of Napa, California near the Napa River. It later branched out into the ship building business in 1941 when it started building ships for the U.S. Navy for use during World War II.[1][2][3] Following the war, the plant built 30 miles of pipe for the City of Napa's pipeline from Lake Hennessey.

In 1950, the company took title of a cement plant formerly owned by Standard Portland Cement Company in what is now American Canyon, California. The cement plant remained in operation until 1978.[4] As of 2001, the city was evaluating the plant for future use.[5]

Successor companies of earlier corporate sales

The company's steel making plant was purchased by Kaiser Steel in 1955. The plant changed hands again in 1988 when it was purchased by Oregon Steel Mills and remained in operation as Napa Pipe until 2004. Developers proposed turning the site into a housing development, but faced strong opposition and controversy over the project.[6][7][8]

The rock and sand portion of the company was purchased by Dillingham Construction in the early 1970s. It was acquired by Syar Industries in 1986,[9] and as of 2018 remains in operation as Syar's Napa Quarry.[10] In 2013 Syar announced that it was applying for permits to double the output of the quarry from 1 million to 2 million tons of aggregate.[11]

References
  1. Courtney, Kevin (February 11, 2008). "One man's journey to save Napa-made warship". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  2. "Basalt Rock Company, Napa CA". Archived from the original on October 10, 2011. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  3. Courtney, Kevin (October 17, 2004). "Napa Pipe plant loads its final rail car". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  4. Luippold, Linda (April 26, 2005). "Cast in cement: American Canyon's industrial past". American Canyon Eagle. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  5. Waterson, Michael (October 6, 2011). "American Canyon OKs study to save silos, ruins". American Canyon Eagle. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  6. Jones, Jillian (July 14, 2010). "Major changes to Napa Pipe proposal". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  7. Noonan, James (September 25, 2011). "No hearings on Napa Pipe until at least 2012". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  8. "City submits additional Napa Pipe comments". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises. April 21, 2011. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  9. "SYAR, Clarence M. 'Tony'". San Francisco Chronicle. Napa, CA. August 2, 2001. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  10. "Locations". Syar Industries. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  11. Peter Jensen (July 13, 2013). "Mining Napa's eastern hills". Napa Valley Register. Napa Valley Publishing.

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