MINERAL RESOURCES OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, 

 NEW YORK 



BY T. C. HOPKINS 



Building stone 



Onondaga limestone. The gray, crystalline Onondaga lime- 

 stone, which forms the base of the Corniferous group, is com- 

 mercially the most important rock in the county and is quarried 

 quite extensively in several different localities. The greater part 

 of the dimension stone quarried from this formation comes from 

 the Onondaga Indian reservation, 4 miles south of the city of 

 Syracuse. The rock is hauled by wagon from the quarries at 

 the reservation to the city of Syracuse, where part of it is used 

 for stone buildings, and trimmings for brick buildings, and part 

 of it is shipped by rail and canal to more distant points. 



In 1902 there were three quarries in operation on the reserva- 

 tion. The most northern one was operated by Kelly Bros., the 

 next by Patrick McElroy and the southern one by D. Story. 

 They were all in active operation during the season, quarrying 

 dimension stone almost entirely. 



Besides the stone quarried for dimension stone, there are 

 large quantities of the Onondaga limestone quarried for use in 

 the manufacture of soda ash by the Solvay Process Co. At pres- 

 ent it is using 1200 tons a day for this purpose. Part of this 

 supply is quarried by the company from its own quarries at 

 Split Eock, 3 miles south of the works and brought to the works 

 by its overhead wire cable and bucket system. Heretofore, the 

 stone, after being blasted from the quarry, has been broken into 

 small dimensions by hand, a slow and laborious process, but tne 

 company has now completed the erection of two giant crushers, 

 each having a capacity of 200 tons an hour, equivalent to the 

 services of 200 men. This crushing plant, probably one of the 

 largest in the State, has been constructed at an expense of 

 |75,00fl and will greatly facilitate this part of the work of this 

 great company. 



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