Stone sanctuary

Debra Berberich has an art degree and enjoys spending time outside sketching. She hopes to one day set up a studio on the property.

There are only three sites in the world where fossil-free dolomite limestone exists: one in Russia, one in Italy, and one in Stone City, Iowa, near the Berberich acreage. In Iowa, the limestone formed approximately 420 million years ago.

This area of Iowa offers panoramic views of tree-covered hills, rolling farm fields, and winding streams. Buildings constructed from the local limestone are testimony to the men who quarried this stone and used it to build homes, churches, and schools. Solid and secure today as they were when built well over 100 years ago, each limestone building compliments the land from which it came.

At one time, seven quarries operated in Stone City, which was originally called the Anamosa Quarries, then the Stone City Quarries, and finally Stone City. Weber Stone Company, Inc, is the only active quarry in Stone City at this time. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, approximately 1,000 people lived in this unincorporated village. Fewer than 100 residents call it home today.