BLUESTONE AND OTHER SANDSTONES 



5 



varies from the exceedingly fine grained material which takes 

 a. very even finish, to a sandstone which is almost conglomeritic 

 in its nature. The color is highly variable, being blue, gray, 

 greenish, pink and red in different localities. 



Four geologic groups are represented in this territory, viz, 

 Hamilton, Portage, Chemung and Catskill, but the distinctions 

 between these groups are in part paleontologic and may be dis- 

 regarded in a discussion of the economic geology of the area. 



The main belt of country producing the even bedded and 

 compact sandstone suitable for flagging and house trimmings 

 known commercially as " bluestone " begins on the western 

 side of the Hudson river in the southwestern part of Albany 

 county and stretches southward through Greene, Ulster, Sulli- 

 van, Delaware and as far west as Broome county. 



Besides this main belt there are scattered localities in the 

 central part of the state, producing bluestone, at Oneonta, 

 Rock Rift, Oxford, King's Ferry, Trumansburg and Portageville. 



The district including Greene, Ulster, Delaware, Sullivan and 

 Broome counties is the most productive, the products reaching 

 the markets by the way of the Hudson river, and Erie and 

 Ontario and Western railroads. The quarries in this district 

 are all small and as a rule short lived. 



The term bluestone was originally applied to the blue colored 

 sandstone quarried in Ulster county, 4 to 7 miles west of the 

 Hudson river. Today in commerce, the name bluestone is ap- 

 plied to a large part of the flagstone produced in the state, 

 regardless of color. It is therefore, today. rather a misnomer, 

 for this material is sometimes green and occasionally reddish. 



Probably 75$ of the Ulster county stone is marketed in the 

 condition known as " quarry dressed," the balance being treated 

 in the mills along the Hudson river. 



In Broome, Delaware and Sullivan counties a very small per- 

 centage of the product passes through mills in the district. 

 Some " rock " however is shipped in the rough to other mills. 



A large part of the stone at Oxford, Portageville and Rock 

 Rift is subjected to mill treatment. 



