rl56 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



landt Park to Scarsdale, and occupies most of the ridge between 

 the Bronx valley and the valleys of Tibbet and Troublesome 

 brooks. Smaller areas occur northeast of White Plains, east of 

 Hartsdale and at several other points mentioned below. 



Most of the quarries in the main belt of Yonkers gneiss were 

 opened around 1892. At that time an unusual amount of bridge 

 and retaining wall work was being done by the Putnam, Harlem 

 and New Haven railroads. Dimension stone and cut stone of 

 smaller size was in great demand, and most of it came from the 

 quarries in the Yonkers belt. This period of prosperity con- 

 tinued throughout 1892, 1893, 1894 and 1895. Since then the 

 actual railroad demand has fallen off, and in addition, Palatine 

 Bridge limestone is being used in place of the gneiss. During the 

 " railroad " period it is probable that at least 100, possibly more, 

 men were employed in the line of quarries running from Scars- 

 dale to Dunwoodie. In 1899 about 15 to 20 quarrymen, with 

 possibly 10 teamsters and teams, were employed. The year 

 1899 was, however, abnormally dull. The data quoted later may 

 be taken as an average for the years 1896, 1897 and 1898. 



Mr S. L. Cooper, commissioner of public works, city of Yonk- 

 ers, wrote, in reply to an inquiry concerning the use of Yonkers 

 gneiss by his department: 



The quarries you mention (Hackett, Cahill, O'Rourke) are the 

 only ones now furnishing stone to the public works of this city. 

 It is impossible to state with precision the amounts, but they 

 have been about 2000 to 2500 cubic yards a year for the past 

 three years. The contract prices depend largely on the length 

 of haul. For macadam, telford stone and ordinary foundation 

 or quarry-broken building stone, the price will vary from $1 

 to 11.50. For cut stone the price is about |40 a cubic yard for 

 fine cut (8 cut) work. This is for cut-face and quarter-inch 

 joints. Our local stone has been used for macadam only on the 

 country roads, and the prices named above do not, of course, 

 include the breaking of the stone to macadam size. 



Since the decline of the railroad trade; the quarries depend 

 largely on rough foundation stone, etc. to pay current expenses 

 and fixed charges. This trade is, of course, very evenly dis- 

 tributed among the various quarries, as the difference in quality 



