FULTON COUNTY. 107 



overlies coal No. 6, in the vicinity of Cuba and Canton, as well as at several 

 other points in the county, affords some good building stone, and the Farming- 

 ton limestone, which overlies coal No. 7, also affords some tolerably good rock, 

 in rather thin layers, that has been used very generally in the vicinity of its 

 outcrop, and answers very well for foundation walls, etc. The gray con- 

 cretionary limestone of the St. Louis group, which is found in the bed of 

 Spoon river below Seaville, and at Bernadotte, is not regularly stratified, and 

 therefore not a good building stone, but on Barker's run, near where it empties 

 into Spoon river, there is about twelve feet of brown magnesian limestone in 

 regular beds, underneath the gray beds of this group, that will afford the most 

 durable stone to be found in the county. 



Sandstones are abundant, and easily accessible to most parts of the county, 

 and when carefully selected they answer a good purpose for foundation walls, 

 and for various other purposes. In the vicinity of Seaville, the sandstone both 

 above and below coal No. 1, is found in heavy beds, and seems to be sufficiently 

 coherent to form a durable building material. The stone for the bridge abut- 

 ments and culverts, on the T. P. and W. railroad in this vicinity, has been 

 taken from these beds, and although sufficient time has not yet elapsed to fully 

 test its durability, it seems to be a reliable stone for building purposes. In the 

 vicinity of Lewiston, there is a bed of sandstone intervening between coals 2 

 and 3 which is a good freestone, and has been extensively quarried and used as 

 a building stone in the city and vicinity. It is not altogether uniform in its 

 texture, however, and requires to be very carefully selected where it is to be 

 used in the construction of permanent buildings. In the vicinity of Canton, 

 a very good bed of sandstone is found below coal No. 6, and further north 

 there is also a heavy bed of the same kind of rock overlying this coal, which 

 was seen at the mines on Coal creek, two miles and a-half to three miles north- 

 east of Fairview, and at some other points. Most of these sandstones are more 

 or less ferruginous, the iron, in the form of a brown oxyd, being disseminated 

 in minute grains through the entire substance of the rock, giving it a tendency 

 to harden on exposure to atmospheric influences, thereby improving its quality 

 and durability as a building material. 



Limestone for Lime. The gray concretionary beds of the St. Louis group, 

 which outcrop in the valley of Spoon river, from Seaville to Bernadotte, will 

 afford the best material for the manufacture of quick lime to be found in the 

 county. This rock is usually a nearly pure carbonate of lime, and the beds in 

 the vicinity of Alton, which also belong to this group, afford the purest and 

 whitest lime made in the State. The gray beds, which are the only ones adapt- 

 ed to this purpose, are only from eight to ten feet in thickness in this county, 

 and form the upper portion of the group, on which the conglomerate sandstone 

 of the Coal Measures rest. 



