Occurrence and Distribution

In recent years there has been a steadily increasing demand for oolitic limestone as a building material, which has brought about a notable development of this kind of stone where it is suitably located relative to transportation facilities.  The market has been extended over practically the whole of the eastern United States, the supply coming chiefly from the Mississippi Valley.  The region producing the greater amount of oolitic limestone is that of Lawrence County and adjacent localities in Indiana, where the familiar Bedford oolitic limestone is extensively quarried.  Closely following this Indiana stone in order to importance is the equally celebrated stone from Warren County, Ky., generally known on the market as "Bowling Green oolite."

The stone from the two regions mentioned is similar in appearance and general character and occurs at about the same horizon in the Mississippian series.  The "Bedford" limestone of the Indiana Geological Survey, in which the oolitic stone is the most prominent part, is the same as the Spergen limestone of the Meramec group, in which occur most of the Kentucky oolitic limestones, though some beds of western Kentucky are higher in the stratigraphic series and are known to belong to the Fredonia limestone member of the Ste. Genevieve limestone.[1] 

Oolitic limestone is exposed at various places throughout a wide area extending from southern Indiana and Illinois across Kentucky into Tennessee and westward into Missouri.  It is probable that the most widely extended beds of oolitic limestone are those of the Spergen limestone, which is included in the St. Louis limestone of many authors.  Strictly speaking, the St. Louis limestone, as originally described by G. Engelman in 1847[2] and later limited by B. F. Shumard,[3] includes those limestones above main oolitic beds.  The name Spergen limestone was proposed by Ulrich and Smith[4] for the limestone beds that had previously been called "Bedford" limestone and that lay below the St. Louis limestone (from which they are distinguished by their more or less oolitic character), because the name "Bedford" in a geologic sense conflicted with the better-established term Bedford shale, of the Carboniferous of Ohio.

In Kentucky east of the Cincinnati arch there is a wide area showing exposures of a formation named by M. R. Campbell the Newman limestone.[5] This limestone occupies a position in the stratigraphic column similar to that of the limestones on the opposite side of the arch which were known formerly as the "St. Louis group," that name, however, having been replaced by Meramec group, including both the St. Louis and the Spergen limestone.  The Newman limestone has not been subdivided, but the oolitic limestone of Rockcastle and Pulaski counties, which occurs in this formation, will very probably prove to be closely related to the Spergen in age.

The light-gray permanent color of oolitic limestone, its massive and uniform character, and the ease with which it may be dressed, together with its resistance to weathering and pressure, place it first among all American limestones as a building material and second to none for carved and ornamental designs.  The beds of the Spergen, the Ste. Genevieve, and the Newman are apparently very persistent and offer fields for commercial development in numerous localities in Kentucky.

Bowling Green Stone.

The oolitic limestone in the vicinity of Bowling Green is in the form of a massive, homogeneous stratum 22 feet thick, overlain by a varying thickness of hard bluish limestone.  This oolitic member has an extensive line of outcrop and has been traced westward to the vicinity of Russellville and Elkton and northward across Barren River.  The bed is apparently very uniform both in thickness and in character over this area.

The massiveness of the Bowling Green bed is one of the factors that determine its value.  Blocks of large dimension can be cut form the quarry face either horizontally or vertically, with no appreciable difference in the appearance or strength of the stone.  The quarried blocks average about 4 by 5 by 8 feet, with the greater dimension horizontal.  Vertical jointing is slightly developed, but the interval between joint planes is greater than the thickness of the bed.  In the construction of buildings the stone may be placed in any position as regards its bedding, with practically no difference in results.  The individuality of grains composing the stone and their similarity in composition and size, together with the great uniformity of conditions under which the material was deposited, have resulted in a massive stratum without intermediate bedding planes.  The stone is a true oolite, the particles being rounded in shape like to roe of fish, about one-fiftieth of an inch in diameter, and firmly cemented by clear calcite.  There is usually intermingled with the grains a small and sometimes considerable percentage of finely comminuted particles of fossil Crinoidea and Bryozoa.  The stone when it comes fresh from the quarry is buff-gray, but on exposure to the sun and air soon bleaches to a very light gray.  This bleaching is due chiefly to evaporation of a small amount of light, volatile petroleum contained in the stone.  This oil is very noticeable by scent in the fresh blocks and in the entire working face of the quarry.  For a distance of about 25 feet from the outcrop the stone as shown in the quarries is bleached by the effects of long exposure, the petroleum content being entirely removed from this portion of the bed.

The first quarry near Bowling Green was opened by Belknap & Dumesnile, of Louisville, about seventy-five years ago.  This was one, if not the first, of the quarries of oolitic limestone in the Southern States.  Work is said to have been done here before any development in the Bedford district of Indiana.  One of the earliest companies to begin operations in the vicinity of Bowling Green was the Bowling Green White Stone Quarry Company, the name of which is preserved to the present time.  Before the construction of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad the stone was hauled and carried by pack mules to points as far south as Nashville.  The corner posts and large gate pillars around the state capitol of Tennessee were constructed of this stone.  The capitol building is made of local stone, which shows signs of disintegration, whereas the posts and pillars are little affected by the more than fifty years of exposure to the weather.

Quarries now in operation on the "Bowling Green oolite" are as follows:  The Bowling Green White Stone Quarry Company and the Oman Bowling Green Stone Company, on adjacent property 5 miles west of town; the Bowling Green Quarries Company, 5 miles northwest; and the Caden Quarry Company, 9 miles northwest of town.  The total output of these quarries in the year 1908 was as follows:  Rough dimension stone, 111, 620 cubic feet, valued at $33,486; and dressed stone, 67,308 cubic feet, valued at $42,654.  In connection with the work of the Bowling Green White Stone Quarry Company a considerable amount of the ordinary limestone capping the oolite is crushed for concrete, road metal, and railroad ballast by the Newsom Crushed Stone Company.  Practically the entire output of dimension stone is shipped over the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, which is the only rail route; a small quantity is sent to market on barges by Barren and Green rivers.

The stone is quarried by means of steam drills and channelers, handled by steam derricks, and cut by rapid steam pitman saws to blocks averaging about 150 cubic feet in volume.  The blocks are shipped in this form to retail stone cutters or dressed to various ornamental designs on the ground.  Among prominent buildings constructed of this stone are the following:  Custom-house, Nashville, Tenn.; Carnegie Library, Nashville, Tenn.; post-office, Columbia, Tenn.; custom-house, Mobile, Ala.; residences of Alfred Burke, Philadelphia, Pa., and A. M. Lothrop, Washington, D. C.

Available Stone Near Somerset, Ky.

In the vicinity of Somerset, Ky., there is a bed of homogeneous oolitic limestone about 25 feet thick.  This stratum is in the Newman limestone, which outcrops in an extensive area in this section of the State.  The writer made a reconnaissance of this bed in the hills east of the Southern Railway, discovering exposures which warrant the statement that the available stone is of sufficient quantity to justify commercial development.  There is no marked disturbance of the strata in this region, the rocks being nearly horizontal and showing few vertical joints.  It is probable that this field will be found an attractive one when brought to the attention of those financially interested in this phase of the building-stone industry.  The only use of the stone has been by C. H. Lewis, of Somerset, who has quarried a small amount of oolite from Day Knob, 2 1/2 miles east of Somerset for certain ornamental designs and bases.  The stone is similar to the Bedford and Bowling Green stones in general appearance.  It is light gray, easily carved because of its granular structure, strong, and durable.  Monuments of this stone in the local cemetery have undoubtedly been hardened considerably by exposure.

On the east side of Day Knob the oolitic bed is apparently about 29 feet thick, though a partial cover of debris did not permit a complete measurement at the time of the writer's visit.  A clear section of 14 feet was exposed at the top of the bed and 5 feet at the bottom, with an intervening thickness of 10 feet concealed.  At this point the oolite is capped by about 50 feet of hard bluish-gray limestone, but the low relief of the knob would permit a wide quarry face of much less overburden.

Three miles south of Somerset and just east of the Southern Railway there is a bed of oolite exposed at a suitable location for development.  the writer could not be sure that this is the same bed as that exposed in Day Knob, but it probably is.  In this locality the stone shows a thickness of 15 feet, covered by hard bluish-gray limestone.  The topography is such that a zone approximately 100 feet wide could be worked over about 50 acres with a cover of not more than 20 feet.

This stone is of a grayish-white color and uniform texture, easily quarried and dressed.  It should make a very durable building material and present an attractive appearance in walls of residences.  The writer is of the opinion that it would, if properly placed on the market, command a ready sale in the cities of the Blue Grass region of central Kentucky.

Other Exposures in the State.

Besides the areas above described, oolitic limestone is known to occur in the following counties of Kentucky:  Barren, Simpson, Logan, Meade, Hardin, Grayson, Caldwell, Todd, Christian, Wolfe, Powell, and Rockcastle.

Of these counties, Barren and Caldwell have produced considerable stone from time to time from points near Glasgow Junction and Princeton.  There is little doubt that the stone of these localities is approximately at the same horizon as the Bedford and Bowling Green stones.  Oolitic limestone occurring near Princeton and Litchfield is described by G. Merrill[6] as follows:

The oolitic character is very pronounced in these stones, and while in some cases the production of a perfect surface is impossible, owing to the breaking away of these minute rounded grains, still in the better qualities the sharp edges and smooth surfaces are as readily acquired as on the celebrated Bedford (Indiana) or other stones of this character.  These are superior to the Bedford stone, moreover, in their clear and uniform colors; Professor Proctor informs the writer that the stone is quarried with ease, is easily wrought, stands pressure well, and is considered one of the most reliable stones of the State.

A sample of the Barren County oolitic limestone near Glasgow Junction was collected by Prof. N. S. Shaler and analyzed by the state chemist.

Professor Shaler's note and the accompanying analysis are quoted below:[7]

A compact, nearly white, fine oolitic limestone, with a ferruginous stain on the exposed surfaces probably derived from the supericumbent soil.

The oolitic limestone, as shown by this analysis, is very high in calcium oxide and is capable of supplying a clean, white lime when properly burned.  Its purity and uniformity and the ease with which it is ground give it a desirable character for use in connection with shale and clay for the manufacture of Portland cement.  The Kosmos Portland Cement Company, at Kosmosdale, Jefferson County, is using oolitic limestone from its quarries in Meade County.  The stone is ground and mixed with Pleistocene clay of the inner valley of Ohio River.  The following is an analysis of this stone made by B. Cushman, of Cornell University, and here quoted from the writer's report on Kentucky clays:[8]

The above analysis indicates a stone similar in composition to meet oolitic limestones of the Mississippi Valley region.

Conclusion.

The oolitic limestone extensively quarried near Bowling Green, Ky., is very similar in character to stone of the same age at Bedford, Ind.  The wide distribution of the stone offers opportunities for quarrying at many places in Kentucky favorably located for transportation.  The stone has very few objectionable features, and its light-gray color will probably always be in fashion.  Oolitic limestone has been used extensively as a building material in prominent structures, is approved by the United States Government in many federal buildings, and is surely growing in favor on the American market.  It is therefore safe to predict a steadily increasing demand for this stone and the development of the more important Kentucky localities.

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[1] Structural Materials, Advance Chapter from Contributions to Economic Geology Bulletin 430-F, 1910, pg. 101, footnote 1:  Ulrich, E. O., and Smith, W. S. Tangier, Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 36, 1905, p. 40.

[2] Ibid., page 101, footnote 2:  Am. Jour. Sci., 2d ser., vol. 3, pp. 119-120.

[3] Ibid., page 101, footnote 3:  Geol. Survey Missouri, First and Second Ann. Reports, pt. 2, 1855, pp. 139, 170, and 181.

[4] Ibid., page 102, footnote 1:  Ulrich, E. O., and Smith, W. S. Tangier, Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 36, 1905, p. 30.

[5] Ibid., page 102, footnote 2:  Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 111, 1893, pp. 28 and 38.

[6] Ibid., page 104, footnote 1:  Stones for Building and Decoration, New York, 1903, pp. 308-309.

[7] Ibid., page 104, footnote 2:  Kentucky Geol. Survey, vol. 1, new series, 1876, p. 152.

[8] Ibid., page 106 footnote:  Bull. Kentucky Geol. Survey No. 6, 1905, p. 21.

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