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Austin White Lime

Type: Historic Site

Rating:

(4.00)1

Cost: N/A

Years In Use: N/A

Year Destroyed: N/A

Open To The Public: No

Historical Marker: No

ADA Accessible: N/A

Bikes Allowed: N/A

Dogs Allowed: N/A

Interpretive Guide: N/A

Address: McNeil Road

City: Austin

County: Travis

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Map

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McNeil is now known as a part of Austin. But many years ago it was considered a community of its own, well outside of the boundaries of the state capital. Close to an important market in Austin, but then far enough away to inconvenience few people Austin White Lime set up shop to provide critical ingredients needed for a growing cities.

Austin White Lime continues to quarry limestone from the area, but the ruins of their past operations remain for all to see on McNeil Road. Numerous stone and some metal lime kilns cluster on a corner. Enveloped in vegetation, the overgrowth only serves to give the structures even more of an allure. It's not hard to imagine lost civilizations that were consumed by the natural forces that they temporarily, but always futilely, kept at bay.

Access to the site is questionable. I saw no "No Trespassing" signs at the kilns themselves and obviously individuals have made use of the area as a hangout given some of the trash there. Since the working business is right next door, it's best if check out the views from the road.

Photos

An old pulley system can still be seen on the side of the kiln. (Photo by heatharcadia)

These remain unsealed, so I was able to get a pretty good view inside the old kiln. (Photo by heatharcadia)

I ignored the No Trespassing sign to get a closer look. At this point, I was getting a better idea of what I was looking at. (Photo by heatharcadia)

I still had no idea what I was looking at, so I needed a closer look... (Photo by heatharcadia)

View of two of the kilns from the road. (Photo by heatharcadia)

Austin White Lime's kilns resemble Mayan ruins in how they have been overrun by vegetation. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Unlike Taylor's Lime Kilns, the operation here at Austin White Lime contained a large number of kilns in a small area. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

The holes at the base of the kiln show where the processed white lime would emerge. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Note that the kilns include the cross braces that were patented by Taylor. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Unlike Taylor's kiln, the kilns here are not sealed up for safety, which provides for better understanding of what the insides looked like. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Not all of the kilns appear to have been built at the same time. This one behind the trees appears to contain more metal than rock or brick. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Log Entries

Old Lime Kilns
By heatharcadia on 1/9/2016
Rating:

This part of town remains so desolate and that has always interested me, so I took a drive down McNeil Road to see if there was anything of note along it, perhaps some clues as to why it remains undeveloped. I saw a couple of signs for the post office, which I thought was odd (why a post office for such a desolate area?), so I turned down a side street and encountered these ruins. I had no idea what I was looking at, so after ignoring the "No Trespassing" signs and taking some pictures I came home and researched it. Fascinating history!

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