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Home > California > Structures and Monuments in Which California Stone was Used
Finished Product from California Stone in California
The sandstone used for the foundation of the Masonic Home was taken from the Farwell Sandstone Quarry, which was located in Rocky Brook Canon, a tributary of Niles Canon prior to 1898.
"Altaville, the historic Cherokee Flat (also known as Winterton and Forks of the Road), has one very well preserved stone building, the Prince and Garibardi Store, built in 1857 of dressed blocks of rhyolite tuff (Fig. 59). Several dryrock walls are built of the same material (Fig. 63) as is the Demarest Foundry.A mile east of Altaville on the road toward Murphys there is a prominent butte, capped with rhyolite tuff. Known locally as 'lava' this material has been quarried since the 1850's and has provided a substantial, decorative building material for structures in Altaville, Angels Camp and Vallecito and facing and trim materials for buildings in more distant towns. This Peirano quarry is still in operation (Fig. 64) (circa 1948)."
| Fig. 63. Rhyolite tuff block fence just east of Altaville, DMBS Cal-H4. |  |
"...the Fleetheart Store, beautifully constructed of stone whose dressed meta-andesite breccia blocks show the stone masonry techniques of the 'fifties at their best (Fig. 111)...."
Fig. 111. Stone building, Amador City, DMBS Ama-H8.
“…During the 1880’s and 1890’s, rhyolite from this deposit was quarried as a building stone for various buildings in the county, according to Elmer Evans, Jr., the owner.”
Amador County, California - Local Stone used for Stone Walls, Wine Cellars, & Foundations (The following information is from Italians of the Gold Rush, Image of America Series, by Carolyn Fregulia, Arcadia Publishing, 2007, pp. 39, ISBN 978-0-7385-5558-4.)
Local stone walls were built by “Italians (who) brought their stone-working skills with them from Liguria (Italy), a rugged, mountainous land....”
“Italian farmers used native rock to build wine cellars, which also served as the foundations for their homes....”
“(Giovanni Batista) Previtali and his sons quarried a large outcrop of soapstone as building material for the family home.” (A photograph of the Previtali Soapstone house is presented in this book courtesy of Ann Previtali.)
"The modernized town of Angels Camp is built around a core of eighteen-fifty period stone structures. The angels Hotel built in 1855 now bears a new façade, but is still recognizable in its earlier style shown in Fig. 56 (sic). It is built of dressed rhyolite tuff blocks, as are at least a dozen other buildings in town of equal age. Examples which show rhyolite block construction are the Stickle Store, Scribner's Store, the Wells Fargo Building and the present Sierra Club (circa 1948). Source of the tuff was the quarry east of Altaville (Fig. 63)...."
Fig. 58. Angels Hotel, Angles Camp, HABS 1547.
Brownstone (sandstone) from the Sespen Canon Brownstone Quarry (located from 5 to 6 miles from Brownstone, a station on the Southern Pacific Railroad) was used in the construction of the Sherman Indian School.
"...The lower tuff (in the Moore Quarry) is much harder than the upper, has a metallic ring, and breaks in small blocks with curved faces like glass.The tuff is sawed here and used for building purposes in Arroyo Grande and San Luis Obispo, and some carloads have been shipped via Port Harford to Los Angeles."
Fig. 148. Rear wall of Cory Feedstore, Auburn, DMBS –Pla-H12.
Fig. 149. Detail of arched doorway of Cory Feedstore, Auburn, DMBS Pla-H13.
Fig. 150. Sawed soapstone window arch Cory Feedstore, Auburn, DMBS Pla-H14.
"...The adjacent brick building (to the J. E. Cory & Son Feed Company building) rests on a schist foundation...."
Fig. 146. Auburn Electric Co. Building, Auburn, DMBS Pla-H10.
"...The opposite corner (from the J. E. Cory & Son Feed Company building) building of the Auburn Electric Company building is built of thick slabs of schist (Fig. 146)...."
"...Extending up Court Street from (the Auburn Electric Company building) is a row of three old brick structures, and directly across the street is a small abandoned building made of schist slabs (Fig. 151)...."
| Fig. 151. Schist building on Court Street, Auburn, DMBS Pla-H15. |  |
"...The building of the J. E. Cory & Son Feed Company in the 100 block of Lincoln Way is constructed of schist blocks (Figs. 148, 149). It has ornamental arches over the second story windows made of sawed soapstone blocks (Fig. 150)...."
"The little hamlet of Bear Valley, first named Simpsonville, is the site of a once important town in which John C. Fremont made his home. Several old stone buildings are still in use (circa 1948). All are made of schist slabs, set in lime mortar and plastered over with stucco. In one instance - a building on the west side of the highway at the south end of town - the stucco has been painted and grooved to resemble large, dressed blocks of stone. A local source for the stone building material is indicated by evidences of quarrying in schist outcrops within the town.Four adobe buildings also survive (circa 1948). One of these is unusual in having several courses of schist slabs laid in between courses of adobe blocks (Figs. 20, 21...."
| Fig. 19. Schist wall (detail), Bear Valley, DMBS Mrp-H-11. |  |
| Fig. 22. Jail, Bear Valley, DMBS Mrp-H14. |  |
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| Photos of building of slab schist in Bear Valley (Photo taken 1998) | |
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