A Little Bit About Lime
Lime is a general term referring to products derived from heated or "calcined" limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO3), principally quicklime and hydrated lime. Limestone is a naturally occurring sedimentary rock formed by the compression of the remnants of coral animals and plants on ocean floors. Once heated between 2000-2400º F in rotary or vertical kilns, it forms quicklime, which is then hydrated under controlled conditions to form slaked, or hydrated lime. Hydrated lime and Quicklime are valuable in many industrial applications, including waste and water treatment, the drying and stabilization of soil, Ph and odor control, agricultural applications, asphalt modification and building product components such as plasters and whitewash. It is also frequently used in the scrubbing of sulfur dioxide from stack gases emitted from industrial boilers and power plants.
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About Us
History
In May, 1952, John C. Madigan, Jr. (Jack) started J.C. Madigan, as a single truck agricultural lime spreading operation in Harvard, Massachusetts.
J.C. Madigan provided spreading service for farms and golf courses throughout New England and also sold agricultural lime in both bag and bulk form to end users such as apple orchards. Over time, in order to meet the growing demand, the operation expanded to eight spreaders and a number of tractor-trailer trucks in order to service its customers.
Agricultural lime sales volume continued to increase through the 1960's and into the 1970's, eventually topping over 30,000 tons annually. However, as government farm subsidies decreased there was a sharp decline in the number of farms in the New England region which caused the sales of agricultural lime to begin to decline.
It was at this point that J.C. Madigan began its transition into the sale of industrial lime products. In 1975, J.C. Madigan sold its agricultural spreading interests to focus on the emerging industrial lime business, which includes the marketing of both hydrated lime and quicklime products.
These products offered growth opportunities and eliminated the seasonality of the agricultural lime business.
The company increased its delivery fleet to ten tractor-trailer trucks which delivered lime seven days a week. Jack also understood the benefits of creating proprietary assets and created his own trademarked brand name for the hydrated lime called CHEM-CAL.™
In 1993, the operation that Mr. Madigan had run as a sole proprietorship for 41 years was incorporated as Madigan Lime Corporation by Mr. Madigan's two sons, John C. Madigan III and Timothy Madigan .
Today, under the leadership of Timothy Madigan, Madigan Lime Corporation continues to distribute industrial lime throughout the Northeast. The company sources its products from Graymont Inc. with locations in Jolliete, Marbleton and Bedford, Quebec, Canada and Pleasant Gap, Pennsylvania.