84 
[Assembly 
which have a slight inclination to the west, while the grain of the rock 
is nearly vertical. It splits easily, both in the direction of the grain 
and across it. It may be procured in the form of blocks of 5 to 10 or 
more feet square, and of the thickness of the plates of rock, which are 
from 1 to 4 feet thick. Some masses were seen which had been split 
off for columns, for store fronts, 12 to 14 feet long, by H, II, and 2 
feet square. 
The rock at this quarry is of a light gray colour, almost white, and 
is a beautiful material for building. It is durable, of sufficient strength, 
easily dressed, and easily quarried, and the stone can be transported to 
the banks of the Hudson, for three to four cents per cubic foot. 
The extent of this rock was not ascertained; but there is an area of 
alt least 10 acres, with a mean depth of 60 feet, or 26,136,000 cubic 
feet, or 968 ,000 cubic yards of this granitic gneiss, or about 1 ,900,000 
tons. 
There is a location suitable for quarrying, in Putnam county, about 
three and a half miles below West-Point, and near the Cotton Rock.* 
The granite or granitic gneiss is of good quality, of a light gray colour 
and durable. This locality was not examined closely, but from the 
general aspect of the rock, it is believed to be a good location for a 
quarry. 
There are two locations for line granite quarries on the estate of Gen» 
Van Cortland, on the shore of the Hudson, in Westchester county, be- 
tween Anthony's Nose and Peekskill. The granite has the appearance 
of stone of superior quality, perfectly indestructible, and has every ex- 
ternal aspect of quarrying easily in large blocks. It is inexhaustible 
in quantity, and lies upon the shore of the Hudson river, with deep wa- 
ter along side, so that the facilities for shipment are almost unrivalled. 
It is estimated that several millions of dollars are annually paid out of 
the city of New-York, and the towns on the Hudson river, for building 
stone, brought from beyond the limits of the State, while we have with- 
in our own boundaries and near the markets, inexhaustible supplies, of 
* The Cotton Rock is a noted place in the Highlands. It is on the shore of the Hudson, in 
Philipstown, between high and low water mark, about three and a half miles below West- 
Point. The rocks here are impure verd antique, (composed of limestone and serpentine, with 
brucite and other minerals imbedded,) strpentme, with diallage and veins of asbestus and deli=> 
cate silky amianthus, diallage rock, augite rock, and granite. The amianthus which comes 
from the veins in the serpentine, has the appearance of cotton or of raw silk, and has given 
rise to the name Cotton Rock." 
