164 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD. 



even-grained sandstone, easily quarried and worked. It hardens on expos- 

 ure, and becomes darker with the length of time exposed. 



This bed of stone may be traced from where I saw it on Lynch's Creek to 

 the head of Richland Creek, in McCulloch County, and probably farther. 



This stone occurs a few miles north of the town of San Saba, where it is 

 quarried and used for building purposes to some extent. There being a good 

 limestone nearer to the town than the sandstone, it has been more exten- 

 sively used. 



At Brady City, the county seat of McCulloch County, the court house is 

 built of a sandstone found in the vicinity. This is the same stone as at San 

 Saba. 



There are several limestones in the Carboniferous formation that will make 

 good building material. Some of them have already been used to a limited 

 extent in a few localities. The stones are very much harder than the Cre- 

 taceous limestones and do not harden much on exposure. They are all dark, 

 except some of those which have metamorphosed by heat into semi-marble. 

 These limestones vary in thickness from a few inches to several feet. 



The best limestones for building purposes in the Carboniferous formation 

 are the beds of blue limestone situated just below the beds of black shale. 

 At that horizon there are several strata of this rock, varying in thickness 

 from one to three feet. This stone is dark blue, and is in such even beds 

 that there would be but little work necessary to be done if the stone was 

 laid down in the same position it occupied in the seam in the quarry. This 

 rock is found along Lynch Creek, in Lampasas County, and at Bend on the 

 south side of the Colorado River, at San Saba, and the country west, under- 

 laying the black shale. The line of the fracture is smooth, but seldom at 

 right angles. I have seen acres of a bed of this stone exposed in blocks of 

 uniform thickness, yet broken so as to make pieces eighteen inches wide and 

 from two or three inches to four or five feet long. The lines of fracture and 

 cross fracture are perfectly straight, so that a wall could be built without 

 having to cut a single stone except those used at the ends. This stone re- 

 ceives a very fine polish, and is of a bluish-black color and very ornamental. 



The Permian sandstone is of a bluish color and is very abundant in the 

 vicinity of San Angelo, where it has been extensively used. It is easily 

 quarried, and when first taken out of the quarry is easily dressed. It is 

 even-grained, and may be had entirely without spots of iron. The stone 

 hardens on exposure to the atmosphere. Some of this stone has been shipped 

 to Galveston and other places for the erection of buildings. 



The limestone of the Permian is quite hard, and when well selected makes 

 an excellent building material. It is of a reddish-yellow color, and is in 

 beds from one to three feet thick. It does not take a fine polish. It varies 



