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Home > Kentucky > Kentucky Stone Industry
1856 - The following excerpt is from the 1856, "The Marble-Workers' Handbook." "Kentucky produces an inferior Marble, which, though susceptible of a high polish, is too brittle for heavy use."
1882 - The Kentucky Stone and Building Industry in 1882, excerpts from Mineral Resources of the United States, Calendar Year 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."
1885 - The Kentucky Stone and Building Industry in 1885, excerpts from Mineral Resources of the United States, Calendar Year 1885, David T. Day, Geologist, Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1887. Excerpts from the chapters on 1) "Structural Materials," by H. S. Sproull, and 2) "Abrasive Materials."
1886 - The Kentucky Stone and Building Industry, 1886, excerpts from Mineral Resources of the United States, Calendar Year 1886, David T. Day, Chief of Division of Mining Statistics and Technology, Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1887. Excerpts from the chapter on Structural Materials, by William C. Day.
1894 - Kentucky Stone Industry in 1894, excerpts from the Sixteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, Part IV.-Mineral Resources of the United States, 1894, Nonmetallic Products, chapter on "Stone," by William C. Day.
1908 - The Kentucky Stone Industry, 1908, excerpts from Mineral Resources of the United States, Calendar Year 1908, Part II - Nonmetallic Products, Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1909. Excerpts from the book are from the chapter on "Stone," by A. T. Coons.
1994 through 2005 – The Mineral Industry of Kentucky - United States Geological Survey (1994 through 2005)
Bluegrass Area of Kentucky - "Stone Masons and Their Craft in the Bluegrass Area of Kentucky." "Paper examining prevalence of stone structures and living stonemasons in area surrounding Franklin County, Ky. Includes biographical information and qualifications of stonemasons, 1986 survey of stone structures, photos and related 1959 article." Guide to the Linda Allen Anderson Collection, Nov. 22, 1959, Dec. 1985-April 1986, University of Kentucky Libraries, Special Collections and Archives, University of Kentucky Libraries, Special Collections and Archives, Kentuckiana Digital Library (Archival Finding Aids Collection). Extent: 1 folder. 82 items. 12 color photos. 68 b/w photos. Repository: Western Kentucky University Folklife Archives, Bowling Green, Kentucky, 42101-3576. (Some of the relevant subjects are: Stone masonry in Anderson County; Bluegrass Region, Ky.; Fayette County; Franklin County; Jefferson County; Mercer County; Scott County; and Woodford County; and the Quarries and quarrying in the Bluegrass Region; Stone Buildings in the Bluegrass Region.) A link is provided to view the copyright notice and information on contacting the specific repository holding the items or collections.
The Geology of Kentucky - A Text To Accompany The Geologic Map of Kentucky, edited by Robert C. McDowell, Contributions To The Geology of Kentucky U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1151-H, Online Version 1.0. The rest of the section below, in addition to the other sections and map index, is available at this web site.
Economic Geology (Mineral Resources in Kentucky), by Preston McGrain, excerpt from the above online publication. Ordovician:
"Carbonate rocks of Middle Ordovician age are the second most important sources of crushed stone for aggregates and agricultural limestone in the State.."
"Dolomitic limestone of the Oregon Formation and the Tyrone Limestone were once used as building stones for central Kentucky residences and commercial and public buildings. Because the dense, finely crystalline dolomitic limestone of the Oregon Formation could take a high polish, it was sometimes referred to in trade circles as "Kentucky River marble."
"Thin-bedded limestones of Late Ordovician age also were sources of building stones in central Kentucky. Referred to by local builders as "creekstone" and "fieldstone," these micrograined to coarsely crystalline, locally fossiliferous gray limestones have been used in a rough state for veneer, flagging, and numerous farm fences. The beds of limestone are usually separated by partings or layers of shale, thus allowing the stone to be obtained in thin, irregular slabs. Stone came from dozens of small quarries, creekbeds, and weathered slabs scattered across agricultural land.."
"Mississippian: "Rocks of Mississippian age are the most important sources of construction stone in Kentucky. Almost 70 percent of the active limestone quarries and mines are in Mississippian-age strata. Principal areas are the belts of Upper Mississippian outcrop bordering Kentucky's two coal fields and the narrow band of steeply dipping Mississippian outcrop that parallels Pine Mountain. Less extensive but strategically located are the deposits in the Kentucky Lake-Barkley Lake area of southwestern Kentucky. The Ste. Genevieve Limestone contains the most commercially important quarry rock in the State; more than 30 percent of the active limestone quarries and mines in Kentucky operate partly or entirely in this geologic formation and its stratigraphic equivalents. Erosional unconformities (intra-Mississippian and pre-Pennsylvanian) and depositional thinning have restricted the development of these deposits in the northeastern part of the State.
"Principal uses of the limestone are in the construction, agricultural, and cement industries, but Mississippian limestones have been used for flux stone, rock dust for underground coal mines, and lime.
"At one time, Kentucky supported an active building-stone industry, the largest production coming from Mississippian-age limestones and sandstones or siltstones. The Girkin Limestone of western Warren and northeastern Logan Counties was quarried in large blocks at several sites for subsequent cutting and sculpturing. The Farmers Member of the Borden Formation was the most widely used sandstone for building purposes in Kentucky. The principal outcrop area of the Farmers is in Rowan and Lewis Counties, northeastern Kentucky. Although large reserves of the building stones remain, there is little or no production at the present time. However, small flagstone quarries in Chesterian sandstones (mainly Hardinsburg) have operated intermittently in recent years in western Kentucky." "Pennsylvanian: Pennsylvanian sandstones are being used, or have been used, for construction aggregate, flagstone, rough building stone, and miscellaneous industrial sand and in the manufacture of ferrosilicon."
The Early White Stone Industry in Bowling Green and Warren County, presented by the University Libraries of Western Kentucky University.
Eastern Kentucky Stone Quarries - Historic Content, presented by Kentucky Coal Heritage.
Natural Environment In The Eastern Kentucky Cultural Landscape
Geology - In this section there is a long discussion of the stone quarries in the area and the buildings produced from the stone from these quarries.
Economic Geology of the Kenova Quadrangle: Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia, Bulletin 349, by William Clifton Phalen, Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1908.
Economic Geology By Preston McGrain - Contributions to the Geology of Kentucky, United States Geological Survey.
Essential Mineral Resources Versus The Public's View of Quarries, by Garland R. Dever, Jr., and John D. Kiefer. This abstract is from the 2002 North-Central Section Meeting of the Geological Society of America <http://www.geosociety.org/>, April 2002.
Fayette County, Kentucky - Economic Geology of Fayette County, presented by Brandon Taylor, Shea Burns, and Stephen Greb.
First American Roads, Rails and Rivers, Warren County Then and Now, presented by the Kentucky Museum, a part of the Western Kentucky University Libraries & Museum. (Below are a few of the sections on this web site that may be relevant to the Kentucky stone industry. There are many other subjects/sections presented on this web site. The quotation used below in the "Limestone" section is used with permission of the Kentucky Museum.)
Highways and Byways: Transportation in Warren County, Kentucky
Rural Routes & Economic Highways: Industry in Warren County, Kentucky (Scroll down to the section on the Limestone industry.)
Limestone: "Quarried primarily from the 1870s through the 1920s, the county's oolitic or fish roe limestone is renowned for its superior qualities. Soft and easily workable, Warren County limestone develops an extraordinary hardness and turns white when exposed to the elements. Trademarked by the White Stone Quarry as "Bowlinggreen Stone," oolitic limestone won awards at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition."
http://www.wku.edu/Library/onlinexh/rrr1/Pages/Mainpages/industry.html#anchor1769456
Warren County and Bowling Green - Early White Stone Industry - "Bowling Green stone" - Oolite Limestone.
Industrial Minerals, presented by the Kentucky Geological Society.
Kenova Quadrangle (Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia) - Building Stone. Excerpts from Economic Geology of the Kenova Quadrangle, Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia, Bulletin 349, by William Clifton Phalen, United States Geological Survey, 1908.
Kentucky - According to the 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, presented by Diane Montgomery Parsons and Joan Ball Williams on their East Kentucky Genealogy web site.
"Minerals.-The mineral resources of Kentucky are important and valuable, though very little developed. The value of all manufactures in 1900 was $154,166,365, and the value of manufactures based upon products of mines or quarries in the same year was $25,204,788; the total value of mineral products was $19,294,341 in 1907.."
".Jefferson, Jessamine, Warren, Grayson and Caldwell counties have valuable quarries of an excellent light-colored öolitic limestone, resembling the Bedford limestone of Indiana, and best known under the name of the finest variety, the "Bowling Green stone " of Warren county; and sandstones good for structural purposes are found in both coal regions, and especially in Rowan county. In 1907 the total value of limestone quarried in the state was $891,500, and of all stone, $1,002,450.."
"Transportation.-Kentucky in 1909 had 3,503.98 m. of railway. Railway building was begun in the state in 1830, and in 1835 the first train drawn by a steam locomotive ran from Lexington to Franklin, a distance of 27 m. Not until 1851 was the line completed to Louisville. Kentucky's trade during the greater part of the i9th century was very largely with the South, and with the facilities which river navigation afforded for this the development of a railway system was retarded. Up to 1880 the railway mileage had increased to only 1,530; but during the next ten years it increased to 2,942, and railways were in considerable measure substituted for water craft. The principal lines are the Louisville & Nashville, the Chesapeake & Ohio, the Illinois Central, and the Cincinnati Southern (Queen & Crescent route). Most of the lines run south or south-west from Cincinnati and Louisville, and the east border of the state still has a small railway mileage and practically no wagon roads, most of the travel being on horseback. The wagon roads of the Blue Grass Region are excellent, because of the plentiful and cheap supply of stone for road building. The assessment of railway property, and in some measure the regulation of railway rates, are entrusted to a state railway commission."
Kentucky - 1997 Economic Census - Mining, United States Department of Commerce, United States Census Bureau, Geographic Area Census. [PDF]
Crushed and Broken Limestone Mining and Quarrying, 1997 [PDF]
Industrial Minerals, presented by the Kentucky Geological Survey.
Industrial and Metallic Minerals Research
Chemical Characterization of Carbonate Rocks in the High Bridge Group, by Warren H. Anderson.
Industrial and Metallic Mineral Resources and Mineral Industries Map of Kentucky, by Garland R. Dever, Jr., and Warren H. Anderson.
Limestone and Dolostone Resources in Kentucky, by Garland R. Dever, Jr.
Nonfuel-Mineral Statistics, by Garland R. Dever, Jr.
Industrial Mineral Resources of the Jackson Purchase Region, by Warren H. Anderson.
Geochemical Data Base for Kentucky, by Warren H. Anderson.
Maps Available - Mineral and Fuel Resources Map of Kentucky, by Warren H. Anderson and Garland R. Dever, 1998. ("This is a 1:500,000-scale map of Kentucky showing major occurrences of mineral resources such as limestone, dolomite, fluorite, sand and gravel, and clay. It also shows major producing areas of coal, oil, and gas, as well as the locations of many mines and quarries, mineral occurrences, gas-storage fields, and tar-sand resource areas") Also, 1:500,000-Scale Map of Kentucky, compiled by Terry Hounshell.
Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet - Protecting Kentucky's Land, Air, and Water
Oolitic Limestone at Bowling Green and Other Places in Kentucky (excerpts), by James H. Gardner, excerpt from Structural Materials, Advance Chapter from Contributions to Economic Geology, Bulletin 430-F, 1909, (Short Papers and Preliminary Reports) Part 1. Metals and Nonmetals, Except Fuels, United States Geological Survey, 1910.
Rock Resources in the Inland Basin, Region 2, The Paleontological Research Institution. [PDF] The Inland Basin covers parts of Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia.
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