Rocky River Stone still going strong

Rocky River Stone is a rather unusual business in that you have to drive through a river to reach it.

‘A lot of people were telling that we shut down,’ said Carolyn. ‘But we never shut down. Frank always made me stay in this with him and learn how things work because he said one day I may have to run it.’

Carolyn never believed that day would come so soon. The day that changed her life forever was Aug. 8, 2007. That’s when her husband and two of his employees were making their way down Nashville Highway on a business trip.

A full-sized pickup pulling an empty cattle trailer lost control and swerved across the highway. It struck the vehicle Frank was driving and claimed his life.

‘He was just going to Woodbury to check on some limestone,’ said Carolyn, who still struggles to talk about the accident, her heart very much attached to Frank. ‘He had such a great personality. If he met you once, he’d never forget you.’

Carolyn has pushed on, and her hard work has ensured Rocky River Stone remains a viable business. The company ships its rock all over the South and all over the East Coast, from Pennsylvania to Texas to Florida.

‘I had one man tell me there was no way in the world I could do this,’ said Carolyn. ‘But Frank worked too hard for me not to keep it going. We built this absolutely from scratch. A guy had it before us, but he let it go. When we took over, none of the equipment was working or nothing.’

If you’re looking for unique places, Rocky River Stone is the only business I’ve visited in my travels that required me to drive through a river to reach it. Carolyn said the water level is rarely a problem, but after days of heavy rain it can occasionally rise so high she parks on the other side and gets across thanks to some of her heavy equipment.

As for its specialty, the company sells river rock, flagstone, fill stone, steppers, slabs, limestone, and boulders up to 3,000 pounds. Virtually all of the stone is collected from the river by Rocky River Stone employees. The large boulders are collected from the top of the mountain.

‘The droughts hurt us too,’ said Carolyn. ‘Because we depend on the water to wash new stone down river. It had been so dry, we weren’t finding any stone.’

Carolyn said the winter months are certainly the slowest when most landscaping jobs come to a crawl. But she said this winter has surprisingly been one of her best.

‘A lot of these big companies heard about Frank and they wanted to help me out,’ said Carolyn.

Rocky River Stone can be reached at 686-2808. Its Web site is rockyriverstone.com.