New settlers used ground up gypsum as both a fertilizer and as a base for making plaster for construction. In fact, the first plaster mill in West Michigan was set up at a location near Chief ...

Once it is dry, it lends the look of marble. Next up is gypsum plaster, popular today due to its accessibility, as it can be mined or manufactured. Plaster of Paris is a popular, quick-setting ...

But things have changed since then. Drywall, first introduced in 1916 by United States Gypsum (USG), has largely replaced plaster. Most of the dwindling number of homes with plaster walls were ...