35 Of The Most Breathtaking Forgotten Places, Shared In The ‘Abandoned Beauties’ Facebook Page

It was built in 1900 by Lafayette Taylor who made his fortune mining sandstone and milling lumber in the Rarden area. Rarden has a population of just 159 people. Top taken in 1973, bottom taken in 2013

Then the marble from the quarry was intended for the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Since then, the history of the factory, full of ups and downs, began. Having lost state orders, at various times the factory produced decorative stone chips, lime and gravel. The owners changed rapidly, for some time it was even rented by the Finns, and therefore marble from this quarry can be found in the facing of several Finnish buildings.⠀
In 1895, the first furnaces for burning marble and getting lime were equipped here. The stone was blown up and then crushed with sledgehammers into small pieces. The marble was lifted up on winches with trolleys and then pushed by hand to the stoves.⠀
In 1960, the factory began to specialize in the production of decorative crushed stone and lime. Crushed stone was used to decorate buildings throughout the Soviet Union, and lime was used by collective farms for liming soils.⠀
With the onset of the 90s, the kilns were extinguished forever, and in the early 2000s, on the site of the former quarry, which turned into a picturesque turquoise lake, the Gorny Park was created, which has become one of the most visited tourist destinations in northwestern Russia. Near the park, the same kilns have survived, the territory of which has now been cleared and gradually beautified, planning to create a full-fledged tourist facility and attach it to the park.

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