DELAWARE COUNTY. 309 



MATERIAL RESOURCES. 



Lime and Building Stone. — Beginning with the lowest in the geological 

 series of the county, we find a close-grained, drab limestone. The beds, 

 so far as seen in Delaware' county, are usually less than six inches in 

 thickness, yet at one place, near the north line of the county, it is 

 taken from below the water of the Scioto in beds of six to ten inches. 

 Although this stone is rather hard and close-grained, it is also apt to 

 be brittle, and in its undisturbed bedding to be checked into small angu- 

 lar pieces. It occupies low, sheltered places, owing to a tendency to be 

 destroyed by the elements. It is easily disrupted, even by the use of 

 the crowbar or pick, and seldom needs blasting. These qualities render 

 it a poor stone for construction, and it is seldom used except for quick- 

 lime. When it has not been bleached, and weakened by long exposure 

 to the elements, it makes a lime nearly as strong as any that can be 

 burned in Delaware county, and much whiter than that made from the 

 Hamilton or the Corniferous. Near Mrs. Evans's kiln, where it has 

 been used in conjunction with the Corniferous, it is distinguished as 

 the "white stone" by the workmen, from the whiteness of the quick- 

 lime it affords. 



The Oriskany, which succeeds to the Waterlime, has no economical 

 value whatever. In some parts of the State it is a very pure, silicious 

 sandstone, in heavy beds, but in Delaware county is conglomeratic with 

 Waterlime pebbles, and it graduates upward. into the lower member of 

 the Lower Corniferous, the supposed equivalent of the Onondaga lime- 

 stone of New York State. 



The remainder of the Devonian limestones constitute a group which 

 are noted for their various economical uses. The heavy, buff limestone 

 overlying the Oriskany is rather coarse-grained and rough to the touch, 

 but lies in heavy layers of uniform thickness and texture. Its color is 

 pleasant and cheerful, especially when dressed under the hammer and 

 laid in the wall. It is sometimes vesicular or cherty, when its value as 

 a building material is considerably less ; yet in all cases it answers well 

 for any heavy stone-work, as bridge piers and abutments, aqueducts, and 

 all foundations. In some parts of the State this member of the Cornif- 

 erous is extensively wrought, and sawn into handsome blocks for stone 

 fronts. Ample facilities are afforded along the Scioto river, at a great 

 many places, for the working of this stone. Its value as a building ma- 

 terial and the accessibility of its layers, render it a little surprising 

 that no opening worthy the name of a quarry has been made in it within 

 the limits of Delaware county. As a cut-stone it ranks nex£ to the 

 Berea grit in its best estate, which is found in the eastern part of the 



