B.F. Pope Stone Company

In 1883, Jacob and Mary Specht owned 127 acres of Wincopin Neck between the Middle and Little Patuxent Rivers. In 1894, he gave permission for the Savage Manufacturing Company to raise their dam up to two feet higher, if needed, which might inundate some of his land along the river. In 1901 he provided right-of-way to the B&O railroad and had a station stop called Specht on the new extension of the Patuxent Branch railroad.

By 1903, with the Patuxent Branch well established between Guilford and Savage, the widower Jacob Specht sold his land of a total of 133 acers for $3,000 to Joseph Donavan. Donavan immediately sold it to William Marshall who promptly signed a 5 year lease to the B.F. Pope Stone Company for quarrying and stone crushing starting in May 1903. The B.F. Pope Company was incorporated the month before with a capital stock of $25,000.

The B.F. Pope Stone Company was named for Baltimore resident Benjamin F. Pope (1852-1937). The 1910 census listed Mr. Pope as in the "stone" business and the 1920 census listed him as the owner of a stone crushing business. The company was chartered on April 7th, 1903 to mine and crush the hard gabbro trap-rock to use in road and other construction (see charter image below).

Land was first leased by the Company from William Marshall on May 25th, 1903, for a period of 5 years to "quarry, crush, and sell stone". It was also noted that extra track would be laid resulting in the siding for this company, which included over 500 feet of smaller side rails, lead to a stone crusher and elevator (see photos) and was just over 1,000 away from the downstream Gabbro quarry rail stop and 2,000 feet from the Gabbro/Pratt Bridge over the Middle Patuxent River.

On February 16, 1906, William T. Manning purchased the land earlier owned by William Marshall and on November 11, 1908 entered into a new 5-year lease with the B.F. Pope Stone Company, soon to be competitors (see W. T. Manning).

The B.F. Pope Stone Company quarry is quite large and easily visible from the Wincopin Green Trail both from the look-out on top and from the view beside the Little Patuxent River. The remnants of the stone crusher and quarry are not nearly as large as that for the W. T. Manning gabbro quarry operation, but they both match the similar foundation for stone crushers and elevators of their era (see photos).

The B.F. Pope Stone quarry is clearly seen on the Maryland Lidar viewer and it was served by the B&O railroad for the duration of operations on the Patuxent Branch Trail line. The company submitted proposals in 1907 for providing their crushed “trap rock” for Potomac Park roads. Although it was listed as a stop on the railroad through 1922, its charter was nullified in 1917 for failure to pay state taxes. It isn’t clear how that affected the business longevity but records are difficult to locate.

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