Historical Note

Dillon, Ellett & Company seems to have had its beginnings in 1868, when Edward Dillon, with partners Ellett and Turpin, leased limestone quarries on the James River at Indian Rock (Botetourt County), Virginia. Dillon seems to have taken sole ownership in the company in the late 1870s; an 1880 Virginia business guide lists the company name as E. Dillon & Company. By 1890, the company was producing 65,000 barrels of lime per year (sold under the Indian Rock Lime brand name) for use in building, tanning, and farming. After the death of Edward Dillon in 1897, his sons Edward Jr. and Lucius seem to have assumed management of the company, operating under the name E. Dillon's Sons (or E. Dillon & Sons). A 1906 Chesapeake and Ohio Railway industrial guide called the company the oldest lime plant in Virginia. Today (2013), E. Dillon & Company continues operations at its quarry and manufacturing plants in Russellville, Virginia.

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