﻿1/4 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



In the southern part of the mapped district the Lowville, Black 

 River and Trenton limestones have been used on the roads, and 

 all serve the purpose very well. 



The rock of the district best fitted for road metal has, as yet, not 

 been utilized at all, namely that of the trap (diabase) dikes. There 

 is no better road metal known than trap, provided it be unrotted, 

 and the wide dikes which occur on Grindstone island are capable of 

 furnishing a considerable supply of material, much of which is cer- 

 tainly quite fresh. The material is in large demand for road-mak- 

 ing purposes. 



On the country roads to the eastward of Alexandria Bay, on which 

 travel is light, the easily rotting, aluminous phases of the fer- 

 ruginous quartzite (Grenville) have had considerable use for sur- 

 facing the roads, and answer the purpose satisfactorily. 



Granite quarries 



During the past season both the Picton granite and the Lauren- 

 tian were being quarried in the district. The former rock has been 

 intermittently quarried on Grindstone island for a number of years 

 and has been considerably used for structural and ornamental pur- 

 poses, both locally and at a distance. For uses for which pro- 

 nouncedly red granites are serviceable it compares very favorably 

 in appearance and quality with the other red granites of the country. 

 There is much quite uniform material available, and large sized 

 blocks can be quarried. In 1908 none of the Grindstone island 

 quarries were being worked, though quarrying was actively in 

 progress on Picton island, where the chief quarries of today lie. 



On the mainland, a short distance west of Alexandria Bay, active 

 quarrying operations are in progress in the Laurentian granite 

 gneiss. At the location the rock is fairly uniform and free from 

 inclusions, and is being quarried for paving blocks, which are being 

 shipped to Chicago for use. Transportation to the various cities 

 on the Great Lakes is of course cheap, and the rock seems well 

 adapted to the purpose for which it is being used. 



Sandstone quarries 



Various small openings have been made in the Potsdam sandstone 

 here and there in the district, for very local building and flagging 

 purposes. Just beyond the Alexandria sheet edge, to the east, in 

 the town of Hammond, the Potsdam forms a long scarp, at the 

 base of which the railroad runs, and the rock here is quarried largely 



