Western was one the largest of the quarry operators in Lemont. This show the labor-intensiveness of the trade. Note the "quarry poles" which were used in the movement of the stones.

According to a 1902 Department of Interior Bulletin report, posted courtesy of Peggy B. and George (Pat) Perazzo, Stone Quarries and Beyond, "The strata considered by Dr. Bannister as the lower division of the Niagara group afford one of the best building stones in the State. These are exposed on the floor of Desplaines Valley northeast of Lemont. The location, being formerly known as Athens, gave the name "Athens marble" to the rock, by which name it is known wherever used. The same beds are seen in the western end of the Sag, at its junction with Desplaines Valley. The rock at the Western Stone Company's quarries, Lemont, is a fine-grained, even-textured limestone, of an agreeable light-drab color when first taken from the quarry. On exposure to the air the color changes to a buff or yellow. The rock rubs well, though not capable of receiving a very fine polish. It is regularly bedded, the layers ranging from 6 inches to nearly 3 feet in thickness, thus affording fine cut and sawed dimension stone and flagging."