The Indiana Stone and Building Industry in 1882
Excerpts from
Mineral Resources of the United States, 1882
J. S. Powell, Director, Department of the Interior, United States
Geological Survey,
Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1883.
Excerpts from the chapters on 1) "Structural Materials," and 2) "The Useful Minerals of the United States:
"The division of the Tenth Census charged with the collection of statistics of building stone obtained returns from 1,525 quarries in the United States, having an invested capital of $25,414,497, and producing during the year ending May 31, 1880, 115,380,133 cubic feet of stone, valued at $18,365,055. In value of total product, the leading States rank as follows: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts, Illinois, New York, Maine, and Connecticut; each of these States producing upwards of $1,000,000 worth of stone. Vermont, Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, New York, and Missouri, in the order named, produce the most marble and limestone; Ohio, New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, the greater part of the sandstone; Massachusetts and Maine quarry the most granite and other siliceous crystalline rocks; while Pennsylvania leads in product of slate."
INDIANA
Reported by John C. Smock.
Ores, minerals, and mineral substances of industrial importance, which are at present mined.
Flagging Stone: Laurel, Franklin county, several quarries; Wabash and vicinity, Wabash county; near Paoli, Orange county; other localities for local use.
Grindstone: French Lick quarries, Orange county. Widely used and known as "Hindostan stone"; Dishman's quarry, northwest part of Orange county.
Limestone: Magnesian limestone (Upper Silurian) is quarried at many points in a belt extending from the Ohio across the State to the Wabash, in Huntington, Wabash, Miami, Cass, and Carroll counties. The oölitic limestone (Saint Louis group) is largely quarried in Lawrence, Monroe, and Owen counties.
Principal localities of quarries are: Ellettsville and Stinesville and Bloomington, in Monroe county; Spencer, in Owen county; Bedford and vicinity, Lawrence county, a gray oölitic stone, and large quarries; Wabash, Wabash county; Logansport, Cass county; Kokoma, Howard county; Eaton, Delaware county; Anderson, Madison county; Greencastle and Ocala, in Putnam county; Longwood, Fayette county; Laurel and vicinity, Franklin county; New Point and Saint Paul, Decatur county; Fort Ritner, Jackson county; North Paul, Decatur county; Fort Ritner, Jackson county; Salem, Washington county; New Albany, Floyd county; King's cave quarry and Mauckport, Harrison county; T. R. R. 2 E., Jackson county; Bennington, Switzerland county, saint Leon and Wisburg, Dearborn county.
Sandstone: Chester sandstones (sub-Caroninferous) well developed in Warren county, and thence in a belt traceable to Ohio river. Quarries at Williamsport and Attica in Warren county; French Lick and Paoli, in Orange county; East Canneltown, Perry county, T. 7 and 6 R. 4 W., Green county; near Attica and Portland, in Fountain county. Some of these quarries are actively worked and furnish large amounts of stone.
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.