Charles Marville 1877 (before) Carrières d'Amérique (espace compris entre le Boulevard Serrurier et la rue de Mexico) (The America Quarries,between the Boulevard Serrurier and the rue de Mexico)
Marville made several photographs of the Carrières d'Amérique (the America quarries), one of the last working gypsum quarries on the outskirts of the city. According to urban legend, the quarry had provided gypsum to the United States for building the White House (in fact, it was used mostly for domestic construction). This area, which had been incorporated into Paris in 1860, was a stronghold of the political left and a site of fierce resistance during the Commune. The quarry itself had an unsavory reputation for harboring thieves, vagrants, and other shady characters in its subterranean depths. When Marville made this photograph, the quarry was still in operation, as evidenced by the fully loaded carriages in the background. It was closed by the 1880s.
