Hernke History
Hernke’s journey began with Alvin and Ida Hernke. In 1960, their sons Owen, El Roy, Marvin, Virgil, and Al initiated Hernke’s Inc Farming and Dairy. By 1963, Hernke’s had ventured into lime spreading on their own fields and also provided custom work using a 1955 Mack Single Axle spreading truck. They sourced lime from the Spring Garden, Hard Rock Johnson, and Wagner pits for spreading purposes.
In 1982, Owen, Alvin’s eldest son, stumbled upon a few flat rocks protruding from one of their fields. Curious, Owen attended a town board meeting to propose investigating the land beneath the field. He even took some town board members on a wagon ride behind his tractor to the site. Subsequently, the town board enlisted Kielmeyer Construction to conduct drilling operations. Upon drilling, they discovered rock formations just a few feet below the surface.
Eager to explore further, Owen returned to another town board meeting to propose the idea of opening a quarry. In 1983, Hernke’s Rock and Lime commenced operations at the site. Spanning 80 acres, with approximately 20 acres currently in use, the Rock and Lime quarry continues to operate at full capacity to this day.
