190 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Quartz is the principal mineral constituent associated with 

 some kaolinized feldspar. The cementing material is mainly 

 oxide of iron, with less carbonate of lime. The stone is even- 

 bedded and the strata dip gently southward. The prevailing 

 systems of vertical joints, generally at right angles to one an- 

 other, divide the beds into blocks, facilitating the labor of 



quarrying. 



Quarries have been opened at Fulton, Granby and Oswego, in 

 Oswego county; at several points in Wayne county; at Rochester, 

 on the Irondequoit creek, and at Brockport, Monroe county; at 

 Holley, Hulburton, Hindsburg, Albion, Medina and Shelby Basin, 

 in Orleans county; and at Lockport and Lewiston, in Niagara 

 county. The Medina sandstone district proper is restricted to 

 the group of quarries from Brockport west to Lockport. 



The leading varieties of stone are known as the Medina red 

 stone, the white or gray Medina and the variegated (red and 

 white) or spotted. The quarries in this district are worked on 

 an extensive scale, and their equipment is adequate to a large 

 annual production. The aggregate output is larger and more 

 valuable in dimension stone for dressing than that of any other 

 quarry district in the state. Including the stone for street work, 

 the total value is greater than that obtained from the stone of 

 any other geological formation in the state. The stone has 

 gained a well-deserved reputation for its value as a beautiful 

 and durable building material; and its more general employment, 

 both in construction and in paving, is much to be desired. The 

 extent of the outcrop® offers additional sites for quarrying opera- 

 tions, and the greater use of this stone, and the increase of the 

 producing capacity of the district are here suggested. 



Clinton group 

 The rocks of this group are shales, thin beds of limestone and 

 shaly sandstones. They crop out in a narrow belt from Herkimer 

 county west to the Niagara river and bordering the Medina sand- 

 stone on the south. Sandstone for building has been quarried 

 in the southern part of Herkimer county; at Clinton, near Vernon 



