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Guide to Rocks and Minerals of Florida, Florida Geological Survey Special Publication No. 8, by Ernest W. Bishop and Lawrence L. Dee, Jr., Illustrated by Andrew R. Janson. (See the Florida Geological Survey web site for an explanation of the dates of publication for this document.) [PDF]
Florida Photographs from the Florida Photographic Collection, presented by the Florida Memory Project.
Economic Geology in Florida (Map), presented on the Everglades Village web site.
Florida (southeastern) - Water Resources of Southeastern Florida with Special Reference to the Geology and Ground Water of the Miami Area (entire document), by Garald G. Parker, G. E. Ferguson, S. K. Love, and others, United State Department of the Interior, Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 1255, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1955 (Out of print). Prepared in cooperation with the Florida Geological Survey, Dade County, cities of Miami and Miami Beach, and other agencies [South Florida Water Management District].
Florida State Geological Survey Topographic Map of Florida, 1913 (Map), presented on the Everglades Village web site.
Floridan Aquifer System (Map), presented on the Everglades Village web site.
Guide to Rocks and Minerals of Florida, Florida Geological Survey Special Publication No. 8, by Ernest W. Bishop and Lawrence L. Dee, Jr., Illustrated by Andrew R. Janson. (See the Florida Geological Survey web site for an explanation of the dates of publication for this document.) [PDF]
The State of Florida’s Office of Cultural & Historical Resources, presented on the My Florida.com web site.
Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida.
"Florida.-Production of stone of any kind in this State is limited to the past few years. The value of the limestone output in 1894 was $30,639, and its use was divided about equally between the building of jetties and burning into lime."
According to this web site, the Anastasia Formation Coquina “is composed of Pleistocene...interbedded sands and coquinoid limestones.” The color is described as an orangish brown “consisting of whole and fragmented mollusk shells in a matrix of sand, cemented by calcite.” For over 400 years coquina has been used as a building stone in Florida. You can read more about the locations of the exposures at the link above.
According to this web site, the “...Avon Park Formation is composed of cream to light-brown or tan, Middle Eocene..., fossiliferous marine limestone interbedded with dolostone.” Exposures of this stone occur near the crest of the Ocala Platform in Citrus and Levy Counties throughout the Florida Peninsula and the eastern panhandle. The stone is composed of cream to light-brown or tan colors.
“The building stone of the State consists chiefly of limestones, of which several varieties occur.
Coquina: - The coquina rock of Anastasia Island near St. Augustine has been known as a building stone for more than three hundred years. This coquina was in fact the first stone used for building purposes in America, its use having begun with the settlement of St. Augustine about 1565. Coquina consists of a mass of shells of varying size or fragments of shells cemented together ordinarily by calcium carbonate. A small admixture of sand is in some instances included with the shells. When first exposed the mass of shells is imperfectly cemented and the rock is readily cut into blocks of the desired size. Upon exposure, however, the moisture contained in the interstices of the rock evaporates and in doing so deposits the calcium carbonate which it held in solution, thus firmly cementing the shell mass into a firm rock. Thus indurated the resisting qualities of the rock are good. The shells from this formation have been extensively used with concrete in the construction of modern buildings at St. Augustine. Aside from its occurrence on Anastasia Island coquina is found at many other points along both the east and west side of the peninsula.
Vicksburg Limestone: - The Vicksburg limestone has been used to some extent for building purposes. This is true especially of that phase of the Vicksburg known as the ‘chimney rock’ described in the preceding reports as the Marianna and the Peninsular limestones. The chimney rock when first taken from the ground is very soft and can be easily sawed into blocks. Upon exposure to the air it hardens, due, as in the case of the coquina, to the evaporation of moisture from the interstices of the rock. The chimney rock was early used both in Alabama and Florida for the construction of chimneys and to some extent for building purposes.
“Locally the Vicksburg and some of the other limestones in Florida become very close grained and compact. In this condition the limestone is hard, approaching marble in appearance. Although little used this phase of the limestone formation is capable of producing a good building stone.
“Miami Oolite: - The Miami oolitic limestone has been used successfully as a building stone at Miami. This formation extends for some distance along the eastern border of the Everglades north and south from Miami. As in the case of the other limestones when first taken from the quarry it is relatively soft and easily worked, but hardens upon exposure. The court-house, Halcyon Hall hotel and some other buildings at Miami are constructed of this rock.
“The limestones of the Everglades of Florida constitute a resource that will become valuable as that section of the state is developed. In this connection may be included a brief paper on the geology of this interesting region, prepared originally for the State Drainage Commission, in which is included descriptions and analyses of the several limestones that are found underlying the Everglades. In making the examination of the exposures along the canals and in Lake Okeechobee, May 19 to 23, 1914, a small launch was used, placed at the writer’s disposal through the courtesy of the Chief Engineer of the State Drainage Commission.” *
(* Please note that the section entitled, “The Geology of the Everglades of Florida,” will not be included here. If you wish a copy of this section, feel free to contact me. Peggy B. Perazzo)
“Lime or ‘quick lime’ is chemically an oxide of calcium or calcium and magnesium. It is formed ordinarily by burning limestone, although shells and other calcium carbonates may be used for the same purpose. Limestone when burned gives up carbon dioxide. The residue after burning forming a lime, consists of a calcium oxide, when a pure calcium carbonate limestone is used; or of calcium and magnesium oxide when a dolomitic limestone is used. The reaction in the case of a pure limestone is as follows: CaCO3 when heated breaks up into CaO+CO2. In the case of dolomitic limestone a magnesium oxide as well as calcium oxide is formed.
“The character of the lime varies according to the amount of magnesium present in the limestone form which it is made. Peppel* offers the following classification of the ordinary or ‘white limes’, including in that term limes containing not more than 5 per cent sandy and clayey impurities:
(* Page 36 footnote: Bulletin No. 4, 4 th Series, Ohio Geol. Survey, p. 254, 1906.)
(1) High-calcium, or ‘hot’ or ‘quick’ limes. Made from limestones containing not less than 85 per cent. of carbonate of calcium.
(2) Magnesium limes. Made from limestone containing between sixty-five and eighty-five per cent. carbonate of calcium and between ten and thirty per cent. of carbonate of magnesium.
(3) Dolomitic, or ‘cool’ or ‘slow’ limes. Made from limestones containing more than thirty per cent. of carbonate of magnesium.
“These limes differ slightly among themselves. The high calcium or ‘hot’ or ‘quick’ limes set more quickly, while the magnesium and dolomitic limes set more slowly. Limes thus serve different purposes, the high calcium limes being used when a quick-setting limes are desired. After calcination, the lime may be placed on the market as quick lime, or it may be slaked and placed on the market as hydrated lime. Hydrated lime is said to be desirable for certain purposes since the lime if properly slaked breaks up into exceedingly fine powder.
“The total quantity of quick and hydrated lime made in Florida during 1913 amounted to 18,917* tons, valued at $100,335.* The companies reporting production of lime in Florida during 1913 were as follows:
(* The Errata at the beginning of the book states: “Page 36, third line from the bottom of the page, for ’18,917,’ read 16,845; and for $100,335,’ read $89.873.)
Florida Lime Company, Ocala, Florida.
Live Oak Limestone Company, Live Oak, Florida.
Marion Lime Company, Ocala, Florida.
Standard Lime Company, Kendrick, Florida.
“In addition to these, the Virginia-Florida Lime Company, and the Blowers Lime and Phosphate Company, organized during 1913, were expected to begin operations during 1914.”
“In addition to that used in making lime, limestone is produced in Florida for other purposes as follows: Broken limestone used for railroad ballast, concrete and road material, and ground limestone for application to soils. A limited amount of limestone was probably also used in building, although not reported. The quantity of limestone produced for the various purposes mentioned are as follows: Railroad ballast, 93,750 tons, valued at $37,500; concrete, 123, 506 tons, valued at $72,432; road material, rock valued at $156,589; ground for application to soils, 16,908 tons, the total production amounting to $156,589.00.
“The following is a list of firms reporting the production of limestone in Florida during 1913:
Blowers Lime and Phosphate Company, Ocala, Florida.
Crystal River Rock Company, Crystal River, Florida.
Florida Lime Company, Ocala, Florida.
Marion Lime Company, Ocala, Florida.
E. P. Maule, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Palm Beach County, West Palm Beach, Florida.
Standard Lime Company, Kendrick, Florida.
Marianna Limestone located near Marianna, Florida, information and photograph by the Florida Geological Survey.
The Marianna Limestone was quarried near Marianna, Florida, in the past for use as building stone. The color of the stone ranges from white to cream, and it is fossiliferous, variably argillaceous marine limestone occurring in the central panhandle.
According to this web site, the “... Miami Limestone consists of two facies: an oolitic facies and a bryozoan facies. The oolitic facies consists of white to orangish gray, oolitic limestone with scattered concentrations of fossils. Ooliths are small rounded grains so named because they look like fish eggs. Ooliths are formed by the deposition of layers of calcite around tiny particles, such as sand grains or shell fragments. The bryozoan facies consists of white to orangish gray, sandy, fossiliferous limestone. Beds of quartz sand and limey sandstones may also be present....” Use the above link to learn more about the fossils present and specific locations of Miami limestone outcrops.
Summary Statement of Mineral Production in Florida During 1913.
Collected in Co-operation with the United States Geological Survey.
Common or building brick, 42,450 M., valued at $240,126.00.
Lime, including quick and hydrated lime, 18,917* short tons, valued at $100,335.00.*
Limestone, including ground limestone for agricultural use and crushed rock for railroad ballast, concrete and road material - $156,589.00.
Mineral waters, 343,123 gallons, valued at $37,474.00.
Phosphate rock, 2,545,276 long tons, valued at $9,563,084.00.
Sand and gravel, including building and moulding sand and gravel, 87,061 short tons, valued at $21,194.00.
Sand-lime brick, including common and front brick, 73,415 thousand, valued at $79,679.00.**
Mineral products not separately listed, including ball clay, drain tile, diatomaceous earth, fullers earth and other miscellaneous materials, valued at $448,147.00.
Total mineral products in Florida during 1913, valued at $10,646,628.00.**
(* The Errata at the beginning of the book states: “Page 36, third line from the bottom of the page, for ’18,917,’ read 16,845; and for $100,335,’ read $89.873.)
( ** The Errata at the beginning of the book states: “...twelfth line from the top of the page, for ’73,415,’ read 13,371; and in last line on page, for ‘$10,646,628.00’ read $10,636,266.00.”)
According to this web site, the “...Ocala Limestone consists of white to cream, Upper Eocene...marine limestones and occasional dolostones....” The color ranges from white to cream, and is composed of almost pure calcium carbonate. The Ocala Limestone underlies most of Florida and is used as roadbase and cement. Visit the above link for more information about this limestone.
“The road materials of the State include chiefly the limestone, marl, and shell deposits, the flint, chert and gravel, and the sandy or road-making clays. The production of road materials can scarcely be estimated. The sandy clays in particular are used locally, no record being kept of the amount handled. The calcareous and siliceous materials find more general usage, the production and value being frequently reported. The value of this class of road-making material is recorded, so far as obtained under the headings ‘Limestone’ and ‘Gravel.’
“At the close of 1912 the total mileage of improved roads in Florida was approximately 2,848 miles. Of this number 857.8 miles are surfaced with marl or crushed stone; 1,408.75 are surfaced with sand-clay; 218 miles are surfaced with shell; 5.2 miles with cement; 26.5 miles with gravel;.4 mile with asphalt, and 8.5 miles with brick. These statistics are for the year 1912, the reports for the succeeding years not being sufficiently complete to justify publication. It is known, however, that the total mileage of improved roads in Florida was materially increased during 1912 and 1913. This applies particularly to the brick roads, several counties, among which are Duval, Hillsboro, Orange, St. Johns and Seminole counties, being now actively engaged in building paved brick roads along the important highways of travel....”
According to this web site, the “...St. Marks Formation is a white to yellowish gray, sandy, fossiliferous Lower Miocene...marine limestone. It is exposed in sinks and streambeds in Wakulla, Leon and western Jefferson Counties. Mollusk molds and casts are often abundant.”
According to this web site, the color of the Suwannee Limestone is white to cream and there are limited occurrences of dolostone in other colors. Visit the above web site for a more specific description and locations of exposures.
According to this web site, the Tamiami Formation comprises “...a wide range of rock types, including: light gray to tan fossiliferous sands, light gray to green fossiliferous sandy clays and clayey sands, and white to light gray, poorly consolidated, sandy, fossiliferous limestone....”
According to this web site, the Tampa Member “...is a white to light gray, fossiliferous, Upper Oligocene to Lower Miocene...marine limestone....” Visit the above web site for more specific information on this formation.
Guide to Rocks and Minerals of Florida, Florida Geological Survey Special Publication No. 8, by Ernest W. Bishop and Lawrence L. Dee, Jr., Illustrated by Andrew R. Janson. (See the Florida Geological Survey web site for an explanation of the dates of publication for this document.) [PDF]
“Rural Southern Gravestones: Sacred Artifacts in the Upland South Folk Cemetery,” by Donald Gregory Jeane, in Markers IV, pp. 55-84, Association for Gravestone Studies. (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, USA)
“Under Grave Conditions: African-American Signs of Life and Death in N. Florida,” by Robin Franklin Nigh, in Markers XIV, Association for Gravestone Studies, 1997.
Vicksburg Limestone: - The Vicksburg limestone has been used to some extent for building purposes. This is true especially of that phase of the Vicksburg known as the ‘chimney rock’ described in the preceding reports as the Marianna and the Peninsular limestones. The chimney rock when first taken from the ground is very soft and can be easily sawed into blocks. Upon exposure to the air it hardens, due, as in the case of the coquina, to the evaporation of moisture from the interstices of the rock. The chimney rock was early used both in Alabama and Florida for the construction of chimneys and to some extent for building purposes.
“Locally the Vicksburg and some of the other limestones in Florida become very close grained and compact. In this condition the limestone is hard, approaching marble in appearance. Although little used this phase of the limestone formation is capable of producing a good building stone."
According to this web site the building was constructed of local coquina stone.
Mr. Leedskalnin constructed the Coral Castle, that was previously called "Rock Gate Park." Mr. Leedskalnin was born in Latvia in 1887, and he constructed "Rock Gate Park" as his monument to his sweetheart and fiancée, Agnes Scuffs. On the day before their marriage she told him she would not marry him as he was "too old and too poor." You can visit this web site to read his Biography to learn more about his history and his work on the Coral Castle. Mr. Leedskalnin cut the large blocks of coral using only hand tools, and there are no records indicating anyone witnessed him cutting the stone or working on the castle. According to this account, he only worked at night by the light of a lantern. He first began building the furniture out of coral in Florida City until about 1936. At that time, with the help of a friend, he moved his coral furniture to Homestead, Florida. In Florida he eventually built a coral wall to enclose his property. Each section of the wall is nine feet tall, four feet wide, and three foot thick. Today this park is open to the public, and you will find information about visiting on this web site. Also on this web site there is a discussion forum available regarding the Coral Castle and Mr. Leedskalnin.
According to this web site, the slave cabins made of local coquina stone.
“The Oolitic limestone occurring at Key West has been quarried and used in the construction of numerous private and public buildings in that vicinity.”
This article describes the gardens in great detail. It is also noted in the article that pink and gray Georgia marble and coquina stone from St. Augustine, Florida, were used in the construction of the tower. Click here to see a postcard photograph of the tower on another web site.
“Miami Oolite: - The Miami oolitic limestone has been used successfully as a building stone at Miami. This formation extends for some distance along the eastern border of the Everglades north and south from Miami. As in the case of the other limestones when first taken from the quarry it is relatively soft and easily worked, but hardens upon exposure. The court-house, Halcyon Hall hotel and some other buildings at Miami are constructed of this rock.”
“Miami Oolite: - The Miami oolitic limestone has been used successfully as a building stone at Miami. This formation extends for some distance along the eastern border of the Everglades north and south from Miami. As in the case of the other limestones when first taken from the quarry it is relatively soft and easily worked, but hardens upon exposure. The court-house, Halcyon Hall hotel and some other buildings at Miami are constructed of this rock.”
According to this web site, the Courthouse was one of the largest structures built of Coquina stone quarried near key Largo at Windley Key. This Coquina stone was called Key Stone. The building was designed in the Spanish-Mediterranean Revival style and opened on July 1, 1933.
Coquina stone was used on porch piers, pedestals and copings of the buildings in this historic district.
Coquina stone was used in the construction of the large fireplace in the interior.
St. Augustine, Florida - the City of St. Augustine & the Fort of San Marco (The following text and engravings were published in “Scenes in Florida, in Picturesque America, with Illustrations by Harry Fenn, 1872. (Please note that not all pages are available, so the entire article is not presented here.”) (The photographs will be added at a later time. Peggy B. Perazzo.)
Saint Augustine
(photo caption) Fort of San Marco, St. Augustine.
(photo caption) Coquina Quarry, Anastasia Island.
(pp. 118-119) “The quaint little city of St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest European settlement in the United States, is situated on the Atlantic coast, in a narrow peninsula formed by the Sebastian and Matanzas Rivers, on the west side of a harbor which is separated from the ocean by the low and narrow island of Anastasia. It lies about forty miles south of the mouth of the great river St. John’s, and about one hundred and sixty miles south from Savannah, in Georgia....”
“The most conspicuous feature in the town is the old fort of San Marco, which is built of coquina, a unique conglomerate of fine shells and sand, found in large quantities on Anastasia Island, at the entrance of the harbor, and mined with great ease, though it becomes hard by exposure to the air. It is quarried in large blocks, and forms a wall well calculated to resist cannon-shot, because it does not splinter when struck.
“The fort stands on the sea-front at one end of the town. It was a hundred years in building, and was completed in 1756, as is attested by the following inscription, which may still be seen over the gateway, together with the arms of Spain, handsomely carved in stone: ‘Don Fernando being King of Spain, and the Field-Marshal Don Alonzo Fernando Herida being governor and captain-general of this place, St. Augustine of Florida and its provinces, this fort was finished in the year 1756. The works were directed by Captain-Engineer Don Pedro d Brazos y Garen.’
“While owned by the British, this was said to be the handsomest fort in the king’s dominions. Its castellated battlements; its formidable bastions, with their frowning guns; its lofty and imposing sally-port, surrounded by the royal Spanish arms; its portcullis, moat, draw-bridge; its circular and ornate sentry-boxes at each principal parapet-angle; its commanding lookout tower; and its stained and moss-covered massive walls - impress the external observer as a relic of the distant past: while a ramble through its heavy casements - its crumbling Romish chapel, with elaborate portico and inner altar and holy-water niches; its dark passages, gloomy vaults, and more recently-discovered dungeons - brings you to ready credence of its many traditions of inquisitorial tortures; of decaying skeletons, found in the latest-opened chambers, chained to the rusty ring-bolts, and of alleged subterranean passages to the neighboring convent....”
(photo caption) The Convent-Gate.
(photo caption) St. Augustine Cathedral.
(photo caption) A Street in St. Augustine.
(photo caption) Scene in St. Augustine. - The Date Palm.
(photo caption) A Garden in Florida.
(photo caption) St. Francis Street, St. Augustine.
(photo caption) The City Gate.
(photo caption) Interior of St. Mark’s Castle.
(photo caption) Ruins of a Spanish Fort at Matanzas Inlet.
(pp. 185-195) “In 1740, war again existing between Spain and England, an expedition against St. Augustine was organized by the famous General Oglethorpe, then Governor of Georgia. He obtained assistance from South Carolina and from England a naval force of six ships. About the first of June his forces reached St. Augustine, which was defended by a not very numerous garrison commanded by Don Manual de Monteano, the Governor of Florida, a man of energy and resolution. After a siege of five or six weeks, carried on chiefly by bombardment from Anastasia Island, Oglethorpe became satisfied that he could not take the place, especially as his fleet had withdrawn in apprehension of bad weather, and he accordingly embarked his troops and sailed away on July 9th.
“Two years later, the Spanish Governor of Florida, the energetic Monteano, having received reinforcements from Cuba, sailed from St. Augustine with thirty-six vessels and three thousand men to the system of Vauban. Half a mile to the north was a line, with a broad ditch and bastions running from the Sebastian Creek to St. Mark’s River; a mile from that was another fortified line, with some redoubts, forming second line of communication between a staccato fort upon St. Sebastian River, and Fort Moosa, upon the St. Mark’s River. Within the first line, near the town, was a small settlement of Germans, who had a church of their own. Upon the St. Mark’s River, within the second line, was also an Indian town, with a stone church built by the Indians themselves, and in very good taste. These lines may be still distinctly traced. The churches spoken of, outside the city, as well as Forts Moosa and Staccata, have long since disappeared, but their sites are known.
“‘During the English occupation, large buildings were erected for barracks, of sufficient extent to quarter five regiments of troops. The brick of which they were built was brought from New York, although the island opposite the city afforded a much better building material in the coquina stone. The lower story only of the British barracks was built of brick, the upper story being of wood. These barracks stood at the southern extremity of the town, to the south of the present barracks, and the length and great extent of the buildings front on the bay added greatly to the appearance....”
“...The old Convent of St. Mary’s is a suggestive relic of the days of papal rule. The new convent is a tasteful building of the ancient coquina. The United-States barracks, recently remodeled and improved, are said to have been built as a convent, or mastery. The old government-house, or palace, is now in use as the post-office and United-States court-rooms. As its rear is a well-preserved relic of what seems to have been a fortification to protect the town from an over-the-river or inland attack. An older house than this, formerly occupied by the attorney-general, was pulled down a few years ago. Its ruins are still a curiosity, and are called (though incorrectly) the governor’s house.
“The ‘Plaza de la Constitucion’ is a fine public square in the centre of the town, on which stand the ancient markets, and which is faced by the cathedral, the old palace, the convent, a modern Episcopal church, and other fine structures. In the centre of the plaza stands a monument erected in honor of the Spanish Liberal Constitution.
“The old Huguenot burying-ground is a spot of much interest, so is the military burying-ground, where rest the remains of those who fell near here during the prolonged Seminole War. Under three pyramids of coquina, stuccoed and whitened, are the ashes of Major Dade and one hundred and seven men of his command, who were massacred by Osceola and his band. A fine sea-wall of nearly a mile in length, built of coquina, with a coping of granite, protects the entire ocean-front of the city, and furnishes a delightful promenade of a moonlight evening. In full view of this is the old light-house on Anastasia Island, built more than a century ago, and now surmounted with a fine revolving lantern.
“The appearance of St. Augustine to the visitor from other parts of the country is as quaint and peculiar as its history is bloody and varied. Nothing at all like it is to be seen in any part of the United States. It resembles some of the old towns of Spain and Italy. The streets are quite narrow; one, which is nearly a mile long, being but fifteen feet wide, and that on which a principal hotel stands being but twelve feet, while the widest of all is but twenty-five feet. An advantage of these narrow streets in this warm climate is that they give shade, and increase the draught of air through them as through a flue. Indeed, some of the streets seem almost like a flue rather than an open way; for many of the houses, with high roof and dormer-windows, have hanging balconies along their second story, which seem almost to touch each other over the narrow street; and the families sitting in these of a warm evening can chat confidentially, or even shake hands with their over-the-way neighbors.
“The street-walls of the houses are frequently extended in front of the side-garden - the house-roof, and perhaps a side-balcony, covering this extension - or the houses are built around uncovered courts, so that, passing through the main door of a building, you find yourself still in the open air, instead of within the dwelling. These high and solid garden-walls are quite common along the principal streets; and an occasional latticed door gives you a peep into the attractive area beyond the massive structure, with perhaps a show of huge stone arches, or of a winding staircase between heavy stone columns, or of a profusion of tropical vegetation in the winter-garden, bringing to mind the stories in poem and romance of the loves of Spanish damsels, and of stolen interviews at the garden-gate, or elopements by means of the false key or the bribed porter. The principal streets were formerly well paved or floored with shell-concrete, portions of which are still to be seen above the shifting sand; and this flooring was so carefully swept that the dark-eyed maidens of Old Castile, who then led in society here, could pass and repass without soiling their satin slippers. No rumbling wheels were permitted to crush the firm road-bed, or to whirl the dust into the airy verandas, where in undisturbed repose sat the Spanish dons and dames.
“There are two convents in St. Augustine, whose nuns are mainly occupied in the education of young girls. There are among them a number of nuns brought over from France a few years since, who teach, besides their own language, the art of making lace....”
On Anastasia Island, about 2 miles from Saint Augustine, there was formerly quarried to a considerable extent a very coarse and porous shell limestone which was used in the construction of the old city of Saint Augustine and of Fort Marion, which was built about the middle of the eighteenth century. The rock is composed simply of shells of a bivalve mollusk more or less broken and cemented together by the same material in a more finely divided state. Fragments of shells an inch or more in diameter occur. The rock is loosely compacted and very porous, but in a mild climate like that of Florida is nevertheless very durable. The quarries were opened upwards of two hundred years ago, but the stone is not now extensively used, owing in part to the dampness of houses constructed of it, and in part to the cheapness of wood. The rock, which is popularly known as Coquina (the Spanish word for shell), is of Upper Eocene age. In the quarries the stone lies within a few feet of the surface, and can be cut out with an ax, in sizes and shapes to suit.
In the early 1800s, the first owner of the Casa de Solana Don Manuel Lorenzo, had coquina stone used in the construction of his new home.
St. Augustine, Florida - the old Convent of St. Mary’s (The following is from the “St. Augustine, Florida ” section of “Scenes in Florida," in Picturesque America, Illustrations by Harry Fenn, 1872. (Also see the section: St. Augustine, Florida - the City of St. Augustine & the Fort of San Marco above.)
“...The old Convent of St. Mary’s is a suggestive relic of the days of papal rule. The new convent is a tasteful building of the ancient coquina. The United-States barracks, recently remodeled and improved, are said to have been built as a convent, or mastery....”
According to this web site, the Dr. Peck House was built of native coquina stone in the 1740s.
The Fernandez-Llambias House was constructed about 1763 and is one of the oldest restored original buildings in St. Augustine. The house was owned by Pedro Fernandez, and the outer walls are of coquina stone covered by stucco.
According to this letter by Henry W. F. Little, Fort Marion (as were many southern Spanish Forts) was built with blocks of coquina stone, which was mainly quarried on Anastasia Island. (The letters are a part of the Calvin Shedd Papers by the University of Miami, Archives and Special Collections.)
St. Augustine, Florida - Guide to St. Augustine as it is Today - 1918: St. Augustine Under Three Flags: Tourist Guide and History, presented on the Floridpedia web site.
St. Augustine, Florida - the Markland (the Andrew Anderson House) (photograph and history), located at 102 King Street. According to the Florida ’s History Through Its Places web site, the building was originally constructed in the Classical Revival style of coquina block in 1893 with later alterations. (Scroll down to entry.)
St. Augustine, Florida - the Coquina Pyramid Monument to Major Dade (The following is from the “St. Augustine, Florida” section of “Scenes in Florida, in Picturesque America, Illustrations by Harry Fenn, 1872. (Also see the section: St. Augustine, Florida - the City of St. Augustine & the Fort of San Marco above.)
“Under three pyramids of coquina, stuccoed and whitened, are the ashes of Major Dade and one hundred and seven men of his command, who were massacred by Osceola and his band.”
“...Near the Barracks on Marine Street is the Post National Cemetery. Beneath the three pyramids lie the remains of the 139 men of Major Dade’s command who were killed by the Indians December 28, 1835.”
The Old City House was reportedly constructed with a coquina stone façade in 1873 from stone found on the site.
According to this web site, the three pyramids that mark the burial place of soldiers about 1842 were made of native coquina stone. The wall that enclosed the cemetery property and the rostrum used for official ceremonies were also made of coquina stone. It is also noted that the Dad Monument, which was topped by a marble obelisk, was of coquina stone.
“...A fine sea-wall of nearly a mile in length, built of coquina, with a coping of granite, protects the entire ocean-front of the city, and furnishes a delightful promenade of a moonlight evening....”
A six-foot diameter ball constructed from coquina stone was created to mark the beginning of the Tamiami Trail.
“White Gardens was originally constructed in 1961 at the site of the former National Bank on Tyrone Boulevard. The Gardens was a vision of the National Bank’s Chairman of the Board, Starley M. White, who dedicated it to the citizens of St. Petersburg. In 1971, White Gardens was moved because of vandalism to its present home at the Science Center of Pinellas County, Inc.
“Since moving to the Science Center, the appearance of White Gardens has changed a bit. At its first home on Tyrone Boulevard, the center part of the Gardens, which is now a park, was a 150 foot oval lake complete with spraying fountains. The Gardens also used to contain over 220 native Florida stones, many of which were boulders weighing over nine tons. Most of these rocks were not moved along with the rest of the contents to the Science Center.”
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