134 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



An average sample of Fordham gneiss taken from the Nichols 

 quarry, showed a specific gravity of 2.66. The ratio of absorption 

 was .165 per cent and pore space .438 per cent. 



Quarry development. There are only a few active quarries in 

 the Fordham belts. The variability and foliated structure of the 

 gneiss operate against its extended use as building material. Still 

 the Dublin and Hastings quarries have furnished considerable build- 

 ing stone, selected from the coarsely jointed ledges, which has given 

 good satisfaction so far as concerns durability. Its principal sale 

 is in rough blocks for foundation work and crushed for concrete 

 and roads. As a road material it is rather inferior, owing to its 

 tendency to split in platy pieces. 



There are quarry sites at Uniontown, Bryn Mawr, Lowerre and 

 Fordham, from which no stone has been taken in recent years. 

 The Uniontown quarry, according to Eckel, was worked for rough 

 stone for one of the Warburton avenue bridges. It yielded a con- 

 torted gneiss inferior to that worked in the present quarries. 



Near Bryn Mawr, two small openings in the Fordham are found 

 on Palmer avenue, near Fort Field reservoir. The eastermost is 

 stated by Eckel to yield a crumpled, poor grade of stone. The 

 westerly opening shows a better quality which is exemplified in the 

 walls and gatehouse of the reservoir. Some of the rock was crushed 

 for macadam. 



The Lowerre quarries were opened in 1898. The gneiss here 

 shows granite veinings and is intersected by a pegmatite dike. 

 Rough foundation stone has been the principal product. 



The Fordham quarries were situated just south of that place 

 and west of the Harlem railroad. They furnished crushed stone 

 mostly, used for railroad ballast. Their sites are now occupied by 

 buildings. 



Reilly quarry 



The Reilly quarry, owned and for many years operated by 

 Patrick Reilly, is one of the more prominent ones for the production 

 of building stone. It is situated at Dublin, southwest of Tarrytown, 

 about i^ miles east of the river. For the last three years the 

 property has been leased to Thomas Murphy of Irvington. 



The rock at this place is a hard, banded gray gneiss with a 

 considerable proportion of igneous material. Seams and bunches 

 of granite and pegmatite are common. The foliation and banding 

 strike N. 30° E. and dip 80° southeast. The bedding joints are 

 rather widely spaced, so that thick blocks are obtainable. A hori- 



