II. THE BUILDING STONES, THEIR VARIETIES, LOCALITIES, AND EDIFICES CONSTRUCTED OF EACH.
An exceedingly rich and varied series is brought to our docks, and the number and variety are constantly increasing. A few of the more important may be here mentioned.
Freestones (Carboniferous sandstone), commonly styled "Nova Scotia stone," or "Dorchester stone," in various shades of buff, olive-yellow, etc., from Hopewell and Mary's Point, Albert, N. B., and from Wood Point, Sackville, Harvey, and Weston, N. B., Kennetcook, N. S., etc. A very large number of private residences in New York and Brooklyn, etc., the fences, bridges, etc., in Central and Prospect Parks, many churches, banks, etc.
Freestone (Mesozoic sandstone), commonly styled "brownstone," from East Longmeadow and Springfield, Mass., but chiefly from Portland, Conn., in dark shades of reddish-brown, inclining to chocolate. This is the most common stone used in the fronts of private residences, many churches, Academy of Design in Brooklyn, etc.
Freestone (Mesozoic sandstone), "brownstone," from Middletown, Conn., Trinity Church, Brooklyn, etc.
Red sandstone (Potsdam sandstone), Potsdam, N. Y. Several residences, buildings of Columbia College, etc.
Freestone (Potsdam sandstone), "brownstone," Oswego, N. Y. Part of Masonic Temple in 23d Street.
Freestone (Mesozoic sandstone), "brownstone," in several shades of light reddish-brown, orange-brown, etc., and generally fine-grained, from Belleville, N. J. Very many of the best residences and churches, e. g., cor. 60th and 64th Streets, and Madison Avenue, etc.
Also, varieties of the same "brownstone" from Little Falls, N. J. (Trinity Church, New York), from the base of the Palisades (part of the wall around Central Park), etc.
Freestone (Lower Carboniferous sandstone), commonly styled "Ohio stone," from Amherst, East Cleveland, Independence, Berea, Portsmouth, Waverly, etc., Ohio, in various shades of buff, white, drab, dove-colored, etc. Many private residences and stores, the Boreel building, Williamsburgh Savings Bank, Rossmore Hotel, etc.
Freestone (Mesozoic sandstone), often styled "Carlisle stone," from the English shipping port, or "Scotch stone," from Corsehill, Ballochmile and Gatelaw Bridge, Scotland; in shades of dark red to bright pink. Fronts of several residences, trimmings of Murray Hill Hotel, the "Berkshire" building, etc.
Also, varieties from Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, etc.
Blue sandstone (Devonian sandstone), commonly styled "bluestone," from many quarries in Albany, Greene, Ulster, and Delaware counties, N. Y., and Pike county, Penn. The trimmings of many private residences and business buildings, walls and bridges in the parks, part of Academy of Design in 23d Street, Penitentiary on Blackwell's Island, house at 72d Street and Madison Avenue, etc.
Freestone (Oolite limestone), "Caenstone," from Caen, France. Fronts of several residences in 9th Street, trimmings of Trinity Chapel, the reredos in Trinity Church, New York, etc.
Limestone (Niagara limestone), Lockport, N. Y., Lenox Library, trimmings of Presbyterian Hospital, etc.
Limestone (Lower Carboniferous), styled "Oolitic limestone," from Ellitsville, Ind. Several private residences (e. g., cor. 52d Street and Fifth Avenue), trimmings of business buildings, etc.
Also, varieties of limestone from Kingston and Rondout, N. Y., Isle La Motte, Lake Champlain, Mott Haven, and Greenwich, Conn., etc. Part of the anchorages of the Brooklyn Bridge, walls in Central Park, etc.
Granyte, Bay of Fundy, N. S. Columns in Stock Exchange, etc.
Red granyte, Blue Hills, Me. U. S. Barge Office.
Gray granyte, East Blue Hills, Me. Part of towers and approaches of New York and Brooklyn Bridge, etc.
Granyte, Spruce Head, Me. Part of towers of Brooklyn Bridge, bridges of Fourth Avenue Improvement, Jersey City Reservoir, etc.
Gray granyte, Hurricane Island, Me. Part of New York Post Office and of towers and approaches of Brooklyn Bridge, etc.
Granyte, Fox Island, Me. Basement of Stock Exchange, etc.
Granyte, Hallowell, Me. Trimmings in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Jersey City Heights, etc.
Granyte, Round Point, Me. Seventh Regiment Armory, etc.
Granyte, Jonesborough, Me. Welles' building, panels in Williamsburgh Savings Bank, etc.
Granyte, Frankfort, Me. Part of towers and approaches of Brooklyn Bridge, etc.
Granyte, Dix Island, Me. New York Post Office, part of Staats Zeitung building, etc.
Also, varieties from Calais, Red Beach, East Boston, Clark's Island, Mt. Waldo, Mosquito Mountain, Mt. Desert, Ratcliff's Island, etc., Me.
Granyte, Concord, N. H. Booth's Theater, German Savings Bank, etc.
Granyte, Cape Ann, Mass. Dark base-stone and spandrel stones of towers and approaches of Brooklyn Bridge, etc.
Granyte, Quincy, Mass. Astor House, Custom House, etc.
Granyte, Westerly, R. I. Part of Brooklyn anchorage of Brooklyn Bridge.
Granyte, Stony Creek, Conn. Part of New York anchorage of Brooklyn Bridge.
Also, varieties from St. Johnsville, Vt., Millstone Point, Conn., Cornwall, N. Y., Charlottesburgh, N. J., Rubislaw, and Peterhead, Scotland, etc.
Gray gneiss, New York Island, and Westchester county, N. Y. A large number of churches, Bellevue Hospital, the Reservoir at 42d Street, etc., and the foundations of most of the buildings throughout the city.
Gray gneiss, Willett's Point, and Hallett's Point, Kings county, N. Y. Many churches in Brooklyn, the Naval Hospital, etc.
Marble, Manchester, Vt. Drexel & Morgan's building, church cor. 29th Street and Fifth Avenue, etc.
Also, many varieties from Swanton, West Rutland, Burlington, Isle La Motte, etc., Vt. The "Sutherland" building at 63d Street and Madison Avenue, residences at 58th Street and Fifth Avenue, etc.
Marble, Lee, Mass. Turrets of St. Patrick's Cathedral, etc.
Marble, Stockbridge, Mass. Part of old City Hall, New York.
Marble, Hastings, N. Y. The University building, etc.
Marble, Tuckahoe, N. Y. Part of St. Patrick's Cathedral, residence on the cor. of 34th Street and Fifth Avenue, etc.
Marble, Pleasantville, N. Y., styled "Snowflake marble." Greater part of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Union Dime Savings Bank, many residences and stores, etc.
Also, many varieties from Canaan, Conn., Williamsport, Penn., Knoxville, Tenn., Carrara and Sienna, Italy, etc.; used generally, especially for interior decoration, etc.
Trap (Mesozoic diabase), from many quarries along the "Palisades," at Jersey City Heights, Weehawken, etc. Stevens Institute, Hoboken, N. J., Court House on Jersey City Heights, old rubble work buildings at New Utrecht, etc., on the outskirts of Brooklyn, etc.
Trap (Mesozoic diabase), styled "Norwood stone," from Closter, N. J. Grace Episcopal Church, Harlem.
Also, varieties from Graniteville, Staten Island, N. Y., and Weehawken, N. J.
Serpentine, Hoboken, N. J. Many private residences, masonry, etc., in Hoboken. Also, varieties from Chester, Pa.
In addition to the edifices referred to above, many public buildings of importance are constructed of stone, e. g.: Prisons in the city and on the islands, bridges in the parks and over the Harlem River, in which sandstone, limestone, granyte, and gneiss are used.
The sewers are constructed of gneiss from New York Island and vicinity, as well as of bowlders of trap, granyte, etc., from excavations.
The Croton Aqueduct, the High Bridge, the Reservoirs in the Central and Prospect Parks and at 42d Street, in which gneiss from the vicinity and granyte from New England were used.
The walls, buildings, bridges, and general masonry in the parks are constructed of the following varieties of stone:
Freestone (sandstone), from Albert, Dorchester, and Weston, N. B.
Brownstone, from Belleville and the base of the Palisades, N. J.
Bluestone and "mountain graywacke," from the Hudson River.
Limestone, from Mott Haven and Greenwich, Conn.
Granyte, from Radcliffe's Island, etc., Me.
Gneiss, from New York, Westchester, and Kings counties, N. Y.
Marble, from Westchester county, N. Y.
The fortifications in the harbor and entrance to the sound, constructed of granyte from Dix Island, Spruce Head, etc., Me., gneiss from the vicinity, brownstone from Conn., etc.
The stonework of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, as I am kindly informed by Mr. F. Collingwood, the engineer in charge of the New York approach, is constructed of the following materials:
Granyte, from Frankfort, Spruce Head, Hurricane Island, East Blue Hill and Mt. Desert, Me., Concord, N. H., Cape Ann, Mass., Westerly, R. I., Stony Creek, Conn., and Charlottesburg, N. J.
Limestone, from Rondout and Kingston, N. Y., also from Isle La Motte and Willsboro Point, Lake Champlain, and vicinity of Catskill, N. Y.
In the anchorages, the corner stones, exterior of the cornice and coping, and the stones resting on anchor plates, consist of granyte from Charlottesburg and Stony Creek, in the New York anchorage, and from Westerly, in the Brooklyn anchorage. The rest of the material is entirely limestone, mainly from Rondout, largely from Lake Champlain. In the towers, limestone was chiefly employed below the water line, and, above, granyte from all the localities named, except Charlottesburg, Westerly, and Stony Creek. In the approaches the materials were arranged in about the same way as in the towers. Additional particulars are given concerning the quantity, prices, tests of strength, and reasons for selection of the varieties of stone.
For roofing, slate is largely employed throughout these cities, being mainly derived from Poultney, Castleton, Fairhaven, etc., Vt., and Slatington, Lynnport, Bethlehem, etc., Penn.
For pavements, the bowlders of trap and granyte from excavations have been widely used in the "cobblestone" pavements. The trap (or diabase) of the Palisades across the Hudson, immediately opposite New York city, and from Graniteville, Staten Island, is used in the "Russ" and Belgian pavement; also, granyte from the Highlands of the Hudson, from Maine, etc, in the "granite block" pavement in both New York and Brooklyn; large quantities of crushed trap from Weehawken and Graniteville, for the macadamized streets and roads in the parks and outskirts; and also wood, concrete, and asphalt in various combinations.
For sidewalks and curbstones, the material generally employed is the flagstone, a thinly bedded blue sandstone or graywacke from the interior of the State, the Catskill Mountains, and from Pennsylvania; also, granyte, chiefly from Maine. In the older streets, a mica slate from Bolton, Conn., and micaceous slaty gneiss from Haddam, Conn., were once largely used, and may still be occasionally observed in scattered slabs.
Additional facts were given concerning the ruling prices for the varieties of stone, tables presenting all the determinations obtainable in reference to the crushing strength of the varieties used in New York, lists of the dealers in building and ornamental stones, etc.