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Home > California > Structures and Monuments in Which California Stone was Used
Finished Product from California Stone in California (Continued)
“Mr. (Joseph) Scheerer (of Victorville, San Bernardino County, California) has also a quarry in Sec. 29, from which considerable granite has been quarried by the Santa Fe Railroad for use as rubble and riprap along its roadbed between Victorville and Oro Grande. The stone is hauled from Scheerer’s Siding.”
Tulare County, by Myron Angel, Assistant in the Field.
“Granite, of which much of the mountain range is constituted, affords abundant material for architectural purposes. A granite quarry has been opened three miles from Exeter Station, on the Fresno Branch Railroad, thirteen miles east of Visalia. The steps of the Court House and jail are from the quarry and are large and fine specimens. At the new jail (circa 1890) are two very beautifully polished pillars, sixteen feet in height, fourteen inches in diameter, each of a single flawless piece. This rock also finds a market in Fresno, Stockton, and other localities. Ashlers as large as can be handled can be quarried.”
| Fig. 107. Adams Express Co. building, HABS 1518. |  |
"A side trip east of Sutter Creek via Gopher Gulch will bring the visitor to the most picturesque of all the Mother Lode towns, Volcano (Fig. 103).."
"Nearing Volcano the limestone cliffs and road cut exposures prepare the visitor for the stone material used in the Volcano buildings. On all sides are massive buildings of quarried and rough-dressed blue limestone (Figs. 104, 105). The Gianinni family of Bank of America fame hails from Volcano, and this town may also boast the first rental library in California (1850)."
The brewery was constructed of locally quarried blue limestone.
The I.O.O.F. Hall with two stories was constructed of locally quarried blue limestone (Fig. 106).
| Fig. 106. I.O.O.F. and Masonic buildings, Volcano, HABS 1545. |  |
The Lavezzo Building was constructed of rough-dressed blue limestone.
The Masonic building was constructed of locally quarried blue limestone (Fig. 106).
| Fig. 106. I.O.O.F. and Masonic buildings, Volcano, HABS 1545. |  |
The wine shop was constructed of locally quarried blue limestone (Figs. 108, 109)
| Fig. 108. Wineshop, Volcano, DMBS Ama-H6. |  |
| Fig. 109. Detail of doorway of wineshop, Volcano, DMBS Ama-H7. |  |
The lime which was quarried and burned about 1856 at the head of Oregon Gulch was used in several buildings in Weaverville.
The masonry on the Courthouse was limestone quarried from the South Pacific Railroad Company Brown Mountain Quarry on Brown Mountain. "The limestone is coarsely crystalline."
San Mateo County, by W. L. Watts, Field Assistant.
Building Stone.
“During the past two years sandstone has been quarried at the Brittan Ranch, about two and one half miles from Redwood City, for use in Redwood and at Wellesley Park; the arch at the latter place, visible from the Southern Pacific Railroad, is said to be built of stone taken from these quarries.”
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 Whittier State School building.
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| The Benoit Bertholet Building on Main Street in Winters, California | ||
The following short newspaper article seems to indicate that Benoit Bertholet’s son, A.J. (Alfonse John) Bertholet, sold the Bertholet building in 1943:
Winters Express, April 3, 2008, pp. A-2, “Yesteryear” column
April 16, 1943: “A.J. Bertholet has sold his Main Street property recently vacated by Wm. Maywood, to J. H. Roseberry.”
Bertholet Building – 1889 - 24-26 Main Street - Italianate
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Woodland, Yolo County, California – the first Yolo County Courthouse built in 1864 (photograph and history) The following information is presented on the Superior Court of California, County of Yolo, web site, & from Crafting a Valley Jewel: Architects and Builders of Woodland, by David L. Wilkinson, Yolo County Historical Society, 2003, pp. 15, 26-28.
The first Yolo County Courthouse was constructed in 1863 on the city block bounded by Court, North, Second, and Third streets and faced Second Street near Court Street. Albert A. Bennett, a Sacramento Architect, designed the two-story Italianate Style building. According to the Yolo County Superior Court web site, the first Yolo County Courthouse exterior was constructed with a “… concrete exterior was faced with Colusa sandstone, and cornices were faced with terra cotta from the Gladding, McBean Co. factory in Lincoln, California ….”
This first Yolo County Courthouse was replaced in 1917 by the present Romanesque courthouse designed by William Henry Weeks. (See the next entry below for information on the second Yolo County Courthouse.)
Woodland, Yolo County, California – the second Yolo County Courthouse built in 1917, located at 725 Court Street (photograph and history) The following information is presented on the Superior Court of California, County of Yolo, web site, & Crafting a Valley Jewel: Architects and Builders of Woodland, by David L. Wilkinson, Yolo County Historical Society, 2003, pp. 76.
The new courthouse, built in 1917, was designed by William H. Weeks. in the Renaissance Revival style. In the 1980s, extensive renovations were needed. In 1987, the second Yolo County Courthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Granite quarried at Raymond in Madera County, California, by John D. McGilvray’s McGilvray-Raymond Granite Company, was used for the exterior of the 1917 Yolo County Courthouse. Below are excerpts from the article cited below:
“‘California’ Granites Are Unsurpassed: John D. McGilvray, Pioneer Stone Man, Develops Great Industry Here Company Builds Mausoleums for Our Cemeteries: Many of Finest Structures on Pacific Coast Erected by His Firm,’ in the ‘Little Journeys to the Homes of Big Industries,’section of the San Francisco Chronicle, June 7, 1921, pp. 7.
“In 1897 he (John D. McGilvray) incorporated the McGilvray Stone Company for the purpose of popularizing the California product in building construction. Later in 1907, he reincorporated under the name of McGilvray-Raymond Granite Company, of which corporation he remained the head until his death in 1916.
“The first important building of granite erected by the McGilvray firm was the United States Custom-house, on Washington and Battery streets. Since that time it has erected the San Francisco City Hall and Public Library buildings, among the most beautiful in the world, the Union Trust Bank building, the First National Bank building, the Kohl building, the Newhall building, the St. Francis Hotel, the Examiner and Chronicle buildings, American National Bank building and the Courthouses of Sacramento, Solano, Kern and Yolo counties. The McGilvray company is now building that imposing and distinctive structure, called the Commercial Insurance building on Pine and Montgomery streets.”
“The McGilvray-Raymond Granite Company operates quarries at Raymond, Madera county, at Sites, (sandstone in) Colusa county, (sandstone) at Greystone, Santa Clara county, and (“Black Granite from) at Lakeside, San Diego county….The McGilvray-Raymond granite is of beautiful color and texture and lends itself to almost any kind of construction. The severest tests have shown this California granite to be superior to anything the East can produce.”
Woodland, Yolo County, California – the Yolo County Savings Bank at the corner of Main Street and College. According to David L. Wilkinson, author of Crafting a Valley Jewel: Architects and Builders of Woodland, the Colusa County sandstone, quarried near Sites in Colusa County, was used in the construction of the Yolo County Savings Bank. In his book, he states that the bank building, constructed in 1903, was designed by architect William Henry Weeks in the Romanesque style. The marble for the columns was quarried in Tuscany, Italy. There is a U. S. Geodetic Survey marker mounted on the side of the building.
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The plaque mounted on the Yolo County Savings Bank building reads:
History
“This sandstone building was constructed in 1903 for the Yolo County Savings Bank, which occupied part of the lower floor. Other establishments in the building were J. D. Musgrove, F. V. Stening, Tailor and occupying the upstairs were offices of Drs. Kier and Guthrie.
“In 1914 the building was extensively remodeled so that the Bank of Woodland, a national bank, could share the quarters with Yolo County Savings, a state bank. In the remodeling, it seems no expense was spared, as the inlaid mahogany paneling, imported Italian marble floor, vault facings and entrance façade, and the brass and bronze work were installed at a cost in 1914 of $20.000. An equal amount was spent to build and equip the vault. This brought the total value of the building to $60,000. The Bank of Woodland, ranked as one of the leading institutions in this area of the state, took complete control of the building two years later. It survived until 1950 when it was acquired by American Trust Company which eventually merged with Wells Fargo Bank in 1960. A few years later Wells Fargo gained complete control and occupied the building until 1963.
“We invite you to enjoy the beautiful architecture of the vault and the wonderful building.”
Woodside, San Mateo County, California – the Rock Fountain/Stream at the Garden estate of Anaflor Smith (photographs) The following information is from “Wedding Form and Function: An extraordinary Woodside Hills home is on view for Symphony of Flowers event,” by Carol Blitzer, photos by Amy Pierre, May 26, 2004, on PaloAlto online.
According to this article Sierra White granite* was used to construct the recirculating fountain that appears to be a natural stream in the garden. (* Sierra White granite is quarried at Raymond in Madera County, California.)
Antone or Weeks quarry is 2 miles northeast of Yreka began operating in 1860. The sandstone was quarried in layers from 6 inches to 8 feet thick. The sandstone from this quarry was used for the high school, constructed about 1913, and other buildings in Yreka; also used for tombstones.
Rhyolite taken from the north bank of Little Shasta River at a site owned by S. F. Terwilligen, was used for building purposes in Yreka before 1906. The color is indicated to be either a brick-red or a light bluish gray. At a quarry site half a mile up the river, the stone is a grayish-green color.
"...A prominent bluff of tuff, rising from 30 to 40 feet above the surrounding country, has been quarried and used in Yreka for building purposes. The rock is light yellowish, with narrow bands of light brown and white colors, rather coarse-grained. When fresh it is not very hard and can be easily dressed, but on long exposure to the air the outer coating becomes very hard. This quarry is from 7 to 8 miles by wagon road from Montague, a station on the Southern Pacific Railroad."
Commercial use of material within this site is strictly prohibited. It is not to be captured, reworked, and placed inside another web site. © . All rights reserved. Peggy B. and George (Pat) Perazzo.