QUARRY MATERIALS OF NEW YORK 115 



which extends northward past Mohegan lake. The workings lie 

 between 400 and 500 feet above tidewater at Peekskill and 5 miles 

 distant by the highway. Regular quarry operations date from 1892 

 when the granite was wrought by E. P. Roberts for the construction 

 of the dams at Carmel and Purdy station in connection with the 

 New York water supply. The granite was later selected, after an 

 extended search for material adapted to the purpose, for the con- 

 struction of the Cathedral of St John the Divine, the largest church 

 edifice in America, and during several years the quarries have been 

 engaged in supplying cut stone for that- structure which will require 

 shipments for some time to come. It has been used also in other 

 buildings in New York, including the residences of Charles M. 

 Schwab on Riverside drive and of Clarence W. Bow-en on 63d street, 

 the Postal Telegraph Building on lower Broadway, the Cross Build- 

 ing on Fifth avenue, and several of the houses in the Bronx Geo- 

 logical Gardens. It has also found considerable sale for monu- 

 mental work, examples of which may be seen in many of the larger 

 cities of the east. 



The quarries furnish two varieties of the granite, a light gray of 

 more or less pinkish hue and a rich yellowish brown that is almost 

 a golden yellow when seen at close range. The yellow granite has 

 no match in beauty and uniformity of its color among eastern 

 granites and its warm, subdued effect in buildings has won favor 

 wherever the stone has been introduced. The light gray color is 

 characteristic for the Peekskill granite as a whole and occurs below 

 the yellow at varying depths, but usually the change occurs at or 

 about 40 or 50 feet. The color variation so pronounced at these 

 quarries seems to be purely local, the yellow granite occurring no- 

 where else and being the result, as later explained, of secondary 

 influences at work since the consolidation of the intrusion and its 

 exposure at the surface. 



The quarry openings extend over a distance of several hundred 

 feet on the hill slope, which falls off rather steeply to the west. 

 The thin soil covering supports a moderate forest growth and 

 serves to conceal the outcrop over much of the undeveloped ground. 

 The granite is known, however, to cover an extensive area. The 

 principal quarry is at the south end, and runs northeasterly for 

 300 feet, showing a face against the hill of about 40 or 50 feet. 

 This quarry is served by a short inclined tramway on which the 

 cars are raised and lowered by a cable. The granite has a slightly 

 sheeted structure, the sheets dipping 15 or 20 west. There are 

 two principal joint systems, one vertical with a strike of N. jo° E., 

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