Honey Grove, Texas

As a source of building rock the quarries near Honey Grove have long been abandoned. More attractive, cheaper and economical building materials, have become available.

William Floyd, a native of Tennessee, and his, wife, Elizabeth, nee Ford, moved from Tennessee to near Honey Grove in 1859. The land they acquired had an outcropping of rock that slices through Fannin County to the south of Honey Grove. Floyd discovered the extent of the rock in the 1860s and began to cut the stone with crude tools of his own design. The stone was first used in chimneys and fireplaces.

In 1874, B.S. Walcott erected the first building in Honey Grove of stone from the Floyd Quarry. Many of the Honey Grove homes, and most of the downtown buildings, were built of Floyd stones. Many of these buildings are standing today and show no deterioration because of the stone.

The stones were large, generally rectangular in shape and from 18-24 inches in size. The stone was unique in that once out of the ground it took on a yellowish hue and hardened. It did not rub off in the form of grit as many other stones did.

Stone from Floyd’s quarry soon became well known. In the early 1880s, the Santa Fe Railroad built a line from Ladonia to Honey Grove and served the quarry with a spur. The train that operated from Ladonia to Honey Grove was called "Old Bob" and hauled thousands of tons of stone from Floyd’s Quarry to be used in building courthouses, jails, libraries and other major buildings throughout Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Among these buildings was the Rockwall County courthouse, the old Merchants Exchange building in Dallas. A large user of Floyd stone was the city of Paris, which used it for curbstones.

Floyd’s Quarries were important to the economy of Honey Grove. 40 to 50 men were employed to cut, load and

haul the stone. It was the main source of tonnage for the Honey Grove-Ladonia branch of the Sante Fe Railroad.

The quarries ceased to operate in 1904.

An outstanding example of stone from the Floyd Quarry stands in the McKenzie Methodist Church of Honey Grove. The church was built in 1883. Ironically, the stone that made William Floyd well known, also contributed to his death. In the building of the McKenzie Methodist Church a large stone fell on his leg and broke it. He never recovered and died in 1883.

William and Elizabeth Floyd had six children. They weret John H., James F., Mary A., William T., Benjamin

F., and George W. John H., George and Ben Floyd continued to operate the quarry.

John H. Floyd was born in Tennessee in 1850 and came to Texas with his family in 1859. At the age of 13, he began working in the family quarry. He succeeded, in the course of several years, in the development of the finest industry of its kind in North Texas.

The Floyd Quarry had a reputation all over North Texas for the abundance and superior quality of their stone. The quarry furnished more building material of its kind than any other quarry in the state of Texas.

Many have forgotten the old quarry. A beautification project in Honey Grove, a few years back, which resulted in many of the old buildings being sand blasted and spruced up, brought out the unique yellow color of the stone from the Floyd Quarry.

The Honey Grove City Hall, built in 1887, is a good example of the beauty of the stone mined from Floyd’s Quarry. The First State Bank, located on the southwest corner of the square in a building erected in 1900 for the First National Bank, is an example of an attractive decor that can be achieved by combining Floyd stone with other building materials.

In 1881, the south side of the square was moved one block south, locating it where it is today, two buildings were erected of stone from Floyd’s Quarry. One building was erected by Captain Wash Underwood and the other by B.O. Walcott. Another attractive building of Floyd Stone is on the southeast corner of the square and occupied by Smith’s Feed Store. Typical of the Honey Grove buildings constructed of stone from Floyd’s Quarry is the present Hall-Voyer Learning Center. Above, beside and behind a modern brick front is Honey Grove stone.

The Floyd’s used their own stone to build a building to house a cotton gin. Built of rock and anchored to rock, the machinery literally vibrated to pieces. The gin ceased to operate after one year.

The quarry was abandoned for several years, then with the advent of the automobile, it regained its popularity by providing crushed rock of excellent quality for roads. Much of the crushed stone was used on Lamar and Fannin County roads.

George W. Floyd married Letitia Avary. He farmed as well as working in the quarries. At one time he owned a. gin, and later a drug store in Honey Grove. George and. Letitla had four children; Jessie, Allle Floyd Kelly, William Esley and Elizabeth Floyd Branson.

Mary Pauline Yarbrough and her husband, Colonel Jim. Yarbrough are the present owners of the land on which the rock quarry is located. Mary Pauline is the daughter of Elizabeth Floyd Branson.

(Compiled by Tom Hymer for the Fannln County Historical Commission.)