KENDALL COUNTY. 147 



to be easily excavated at some points with a common spade. Another exposure 

 of the same material in a similar situation, was observed higher up stream, on 

 the eastern bank in the southern part of section seventeen. 



Economical Geology. 



Building Stone. From what has been stated in the preceding pages, it will 

 be seen, that Kendall county is well supplied with building stone, although the 

 finer qualities, suitable for cut stone and ornamental work, are generally want- 

 ing. The proximity, however, of the excellent quarries at Batavia and Joliet, 

 will make up for this deficiency. The limestones of the Niagara group, in the 

 northern part of the county, afford a good material for rough walls, founda- 

 tions, etc., and have been used to some extent for general building purposes, 

 though the beds are not always of sufficient thickness to supply the better 

 qualities. At Mr. Shontz's quarry, in the northwest part of the county, blocks 

 of considerable size are sometimes obtained, but in many instances contain so 

 much chert as to seriously impair their quality. The limestone beds of the 

 Cincinnati group, which have been quarried to some extent along the Fox river, 

 at Oswego and Bristol, and also on the AuSable, in the southeastern part of the 

 county, are found, whenever sufficiently resistant to atmospheric influences, to 

 afford a fine material for foundation walls, and for the rougher kinds of masonry 

 generally. The heavier bedded limestone of the Trenton group, affords a still 

 better material for the same uses, and has also been employed for general build- 

 ing purposes, and found to answer well. It will readily be seen from the des- 

 criptions of quarries and outcrops of rock in the preceding pages, that they 

 are so distributed as to be easily accessible from all parts of the county. 



Other Building Materials. Limestone, suitable for the manufacture of a fair 

 article of quick lime, is found in both the Niagara and Trenton groups in this 

 county. At Oswego, lime is made from rock of the former age, which appears 

 here to be somewhat magnesian, and affords a strong, but not perfectly white, 

 lime. The limestones of the Trenton group are burned at Posts's mills, and a 

 little above Milford, on the Fox river, and also near Lisbon, and at each of 

 these places, is said to afford a good article of lime. Another source of this 

 material which has been made use of to a limited extent, is found in the collec- 

 tions of limestone boulders, frequently met with in the deposits of modified 

 Drift along the Fox river. 



Sand, for building purposes, is abundant throughout the county, and the sub- 

 soils and Drift afford good clay for making the ordinary red brick, which are 

 manufactured in quantities to meet the local demands, at various places in the 

 county. In this connection, I may also mention the white sand of the St. Pe- 

 ters sandstone, occurring along the lower course of Fox river, in this county, 



