{"nrhp_refnum":"08000038","name":"Marion Steam Shovel","other_names":["LeRoy Steam Shovel"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Gulf Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"LeRoy","county":"Genesee County","state":"NY","lat":42.99241065700005,"lon":-77.93435269099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-02-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 105-ton Marion steam shovel on the north side of Gulf Road, east of the Village of LeRoy, Genesee County, New York, beside a former Lehigh Valley Railroad line and a limestone quarry. It is believed to be a Model 91 built by the Marion Steam Shovel Company, with a construction date of about 1911.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the shovel is a rare survivor of the technology that supplied crushed stone for railroads and roads. It is believed to be the only surviving Marion Model 91, the model used on the Panama Canal. It is also tied to the LeRoy limestone industry and the General Crushed Stone Company.","narrative":"A 105-ton steam shovel about the size of a railroad boxcar sits beside Gulf Road east of LeRoy, New York, near the limestone quarry where it once worked. It is believed to be a Marion Model 91, built of riveted sheet iron and cast iron with three steam engines and a coal-fired boiler. It first ran on railroad wheels; these were replaced with crawler tracks in 1923 or 1924. The shovel is considered important as a rare survivor of the machinery that made crushed stone for railroad beds and early roads. It is the only known surviving Model 91, the type used to dig the Panama Canal, and oral history suggests it may have come from that project in 1911, though no written records confirm this. It also reflects LeRoy's quarrying history and the General Crushed Stone Company, which operated the local quarry. The Town of LeRoy now owns it, and it is no longer in use.","period_of_significance":"ca 1911-1949","architect_builder":"Marion Steam Shovel Co","architectural_style":"No style","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Not in use. The boiler and boom engine are not in working condition, but the hoisting and swing engines are likely workable on compressed air. The Town of LeRoy owns it, and it sits in a fenced area behind a locked gate.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:52.904726-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/08000038.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000038/4a45154024-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000038/4a45154024-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daniel Case","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marion_Steam_Shovel,_Le_Roy,_NY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniel Case</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marion_Steam_Shovel,_Le_Roy,_NY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317907","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Steam_Shovel_(Le_Roy,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6765375"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/genesee-county/marion-steam-shovel-08000038/"}