84 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Sandstone 



Sandstones are widely distributed over the State, almost 

 every county having' some beds. The largest unbroken area is 

 that extending across the southern tier of counties from Chau- 

 tauqua county on the west to Ulster county on the east. This 

 series will be described more fully under bluestone. North of 

 this belt and extending in an east-west direction across western 

 and central New York, are a series of sandstone strata that 

 include the Oriskany, the Clinton and the Medina sandstones. 

 Of these the latter, the Medina sandstone, is the only one of 

 commercial importance. The main area covered by this stone 

 lies along the southern shore of Lake Ontario in Niagara, 

 Orleans, Monroe and Wayne counties. The stone is a medium 

 grained, red sandstone, free from injurious impurities and easily 

 dressed. Associated with it in places are white layers. It makes 

 a very handsome building stone and has been much used for 

 that purpose. Its main use, however, is for curbing and paving 

 blocks. Many large quarries are actively engaged in getting 

 out the stone for such purposes, the majority of them located in 

 Orleans county between Medina and Holley. 



The Potsdam sandstone is found in northern New York, 

 around the border of the Adirondacks, from Jefferson county to 

 Lake Champlain. It is one of the hardest, most durable and 

 at the same time handsome sandstones in the country and it 

 deserves a wider use. Its delicate pinkish color and its banding 

 give it a most pleasing appearance. It is quarried in Franklin, 

 Jefferson and St Lawrence counties and sold mainly as building 

 stone or flagging. 



The Hudson River series, comprising irregular strata of 

 slates, sandstone and limestone, affords, at a few places, a sand- 

 stone suitable for quarry purposes. Quarries in this series are 

 located in Rensselaer and Dutchess counties. Sandstones of 

 Triassic age, known as " brownstones " were formerly quarried 

 near Nyack, but the industry is now practically abandoned. 



Bluestone. This variety of sandstone is bluish in color, fine 

 grained and is jointed and bedded in such a regular manner 

 that with careful selection of a quarry site, flagging and curb- 

 ing can be extracted with a minimum amount of after-dressing. 

 The bluestone is, for that reason, in demand chiefly for these 

 purposes. The quarries are located in Greene, Ulster, Dela- 

 ware and Sullivan counties, and thence west to Chautauqua 



