404 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



A representative specimen of the best Hudson river Milestone, 

 and obtained from the Bigelow Bluestone Company* of Maiden, 

 was subjected to a series of tests, with the following result: spe- 

 cific gravity, 2.751; weight per cubic foot, 171 pounds; ferrous 

 oxide, 4.63 per cent. ; ferric oxide, 0.79 per cent.; water absorbed, 

 .82; loss in dilute sulphuric acid solution, .20 per cent.; alternate 

 freezing and thawing, unchanged; at temperature of 1200°-1400° 

 Fahr. color changed to dull red, slightly checked and strength 

 somewhat impaired. 



" The bluestone territory southwest of Ulster county is confined 

 to a narrow belt crossing the towns of Mamakating, Thompson, 

 Forestburg and Lumberland in Sullivan county and Deerpark in 

 Orange county. There are quarries near Westbrookville, near 

 Wurtsboro, along the Port Jervis, Monticello and New York rail- 

 road and on the Delaware river at Pond-Eddy and Barry ville." 



Flagstone is obtained along the lines of the New York, Ontario 

 and Western railroad, and of the Ulster and Delaware railroad 

 at Westfield Fiats, Trout Brook, East Branch, Margaretville, 

 Roxbury and Grand Gorge. All of these quarries are in the Cats- 

 kill group of rocks, and the stone from them is more generally a 

 reddish or brown-tinted sandstone. 



It is more open-grained and not so dense and strong as the best 

 Ulster county stone. It reaches the market with the product of 

 the Ulster county quarry and is included in the bluestone produc- 

 tion. The principal shipping points whence bluestone comes to 

 the market are Maiden, Saugerties, Kingston (including Wilbur 

 and Rondout). A great deal of stone is cut for house trimmings, 

 in mills in Maiden, Brodhead's Bridge, West Hurley, Wilbur, 

 Kingston and Rondout, but the larger number of feet is sent into 

 market simply quarry-dressed, for flagging and curbing. Its 

 superiority as a flagging-stone is recognized generally by residents 

 of New York city and adjacent towns where it has been so 

 extensively used. 



" It is so compact as not to absorb moisture to any extent, and 

 hence soon dries after rain or ice ; it has the hardness to resist 

 abrasion and wears well; it is even-bedded, and thus presents a 

 good and smooth natural surface ; and it has a grain which pre- 



* Now the Ulster Bluestone Oo. 



