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The soapstone quarries located in Spartanburg and Cherokee counties are distinct, well preserved examples of a once numerous, but now rapidly vanishing, specialized procurement site. Here occurs an extensive zone of soapstone deposits from which, primarily during the prehistoric, Late Archaic Period (3000 BC – 500 BC), soapstone was procured. The narrow zone of lenticular soapstone deposits is approximately 8 km. in length. Soapstone Quarry Site 38CK1 consists of a series of clusterings of large soapstone boulders exhibiting extensive quarrying activity, surrounded by a scatter of worked and unworked pieces. The site is divided into two major areas extending laterally along the crest of two parallel ridges. The quarry exhibits both historic and prehistoric utilization. Listed in the National Register December 10, 1980.

View the redacted text of the nomination form for this National Register property. In addition the Historic Resources of Early Ironworks of Northwestern South Carolina includes historical background information for this and other related National Register properties.

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