Graniterock Museum

1970–1979

During the 1970s, Graniterock began a period of transition which would eventually modernize and transform its business to meet the demands of the future. Technologies which had been installed at the beginning of the century were now out of date. The company needed to rethink its processes, invest in and replace old plants and equipment. Graniterock people put their energy and creative resources into the job, and made the company ready for great things to come.

1970 Logan Quarry Caterpillar wheel loaders were now the machine of choice for removing rock from the quarry face for transport to the crusher. They replaced less efficient electric shovels in 1969.

1970 Logan Quarry Rail cars and the old secondary crushing plant, which was built in 1910 by A.R. Wilson.

1970 Railcars In 1970, 7,500 tons of rock per day could be shipped out from Logan Quarry, and twenty-five new 100-ton hopper cars were purchased to help meet the demand. Rail was then, and remains today, the most environmentally sound and cost effective way to transport aggregate to locations throughout the region. Bruce G. and Betsy Woolpert stand in front of a new car painted with the Graniterock logo.

1970 Corporate Office Doris Johnson and Kathy Travers Taylor show off a newly installed 757 300 series telephone console, the first one in California. An exciting new feature was its ability to handle conference calls.

1971 Corporate Office Walker Street and West Lake Avenue offices were modernized with new landscaping and “decorative simulated adobe” fences.

1972 Logan Quarry

1972 San Jose Returning to the San Jose market area after a thirty-six year hiatus, Graniterock opened a new ready mix plant in 1972 to meet the exploding construction demands of Silicon Valley.

1972 Corporate Office Betsy Woolpert returned to work at Graniterock when her sons were grown. She established a new Personnel Department and took over as Personnel Manager. Her office was in a modular office building, because the company had run out of space in the building that had served as Corporate Office since the 1920s. This building was jokingly referred to as “The Outhouse”.

1973 Corporate Office Graniterock management and consultants prepare for a Board of Directors meeting to discuss the Master Plan for a major project to modernize and automate Logan Quarry. Left to right: Geology consultants Gerry Migula and Oliver Bowen; CFO Jack Scripps, Engineering Manager Art Johnson, and VP, Company Operations, Ray Johnson.

1973 Santa Cruz Branch Fred Boehme, Vice President, Concrete Division, and Bill Van Sandt, Manager, Santa Cruz Branch, pose in front of the newly opened fully automatic Rex wet-dry concrete plant.

1975 Company Picnic Bruce G. Woolpert and Tom Blackwell enjoy the afternoon at San Benito County’s Bolado Park. Tom started with Granite Rock Company in 1947, and delivered concrete from the Salinas Branch for 36 years.

1975 Company Party Graniterock people celebrated 75 years of business with dinner and dancing at the Cocoanut Grove Ballroom, located at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, on Saturday, February 15, 1975.

1975 Company Party At the celebration of 75 years of business, Betsy Woolpert served birthday cake to Mrs. Lee Purtill while their husbands, Graniterock president Bruce G. Woolpert and retiree Lee Purtill, stood by. Lee Purtill had a long career as a manager and superintendent at Logan Quarry, and was hired by Arthur R. Wilson in 1925.

1975 Logan Quarry Graniterock stacker conveyor system prior to quarry modernization. The system filled overhead bins for truck loadout. This was an early effort to reduce customer gate-to-gate time, which is now automated with GraniteXpress2™.

1975 Logan Quarry The Wash Plant (square building seen at center of photo) separated ¾ inch and smaller rock and sand into separate sized product piles. Everything larger than ¾ inch size still went to the 1910 Plant for crushing and screening.

1976 San Jose Branch Graniterock celebrated our nation’s Bicentennial with enthusiastic patriotism.

1979 Watsonville Branch Betsy Woolpert with Joaquin Sousa, Watsonville Branch driver, soon after she was promoted to Vice-President and General Manager. At this time, women executives were still uncommon. Joaquin drove a truck for Graniterock for twenty-seven years.

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