Hauling Stone from the Quarry
Typical stone foundation early 1900's
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A COMPANY IS BORN
In 1897, John went on his own, establishing John G. Molin Construction Services Company, specializing in masonry construction.
Shortly before the turn of the century, he purchased the rights to a limestone quarry along the Mississippi River in St. Paul. The limestone was cut from the quarry, hauled by horse and wagon and delivered to the building sites where Molin crews would perform the stone foundation work. In 1905, Molin purchased property on West Minnehaha Ave. in St. Paul where he set up operations to mine sand and gravel for early concrete mixing processes.
Around the same time, he began manufacturing early precast concrete products such as sidewalk tiles for the city neighborhoods. A block plant was later constructed on the Minnehaha site where concrete blocks were manufactured and sold to the construction industry. This site would be home to the company for many years to come.
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