ORLEANS COUNTY. 
439 
The freestone was quarried on Otter creek, about two miles south of Eagle harbor, for some 
of the works on the Erie canal. At this quarry the layers are thick, hard, not slaty, nor argil¬ 
laceous as elsewhere, and yet it crumbles upon exposure. 
In the southeast part of the village of Albion, a quarry was in operation, which furnished 
rock of a reddish or variegated description, intended for buildings. The same quarry also 
furnished courses of a grey sandstone of a firmer texture, with less argillaceous matter, and 
altogether more durable. 
The upper layers of the sandstone near Albion consist of a greyish sandy rock, which is 
preferred for the corner stones of buildings. The upper layers at Medina and Holley are 
very siliceous, and too hard to be wrought with advantage. For foundations and rough work, 
they are well adapted, and are of a texture to withstand the effects of moisture, frost, and all 
other exposure. 
The sandstone or freestone was also employed in the construction °£ die culvert over Sandy 
creek at Holley; but the arch below showing a tendp«^ to disintegration, a new one, com¬ 
posed of limestone, was consequently built within, in order to sustain the first. We have 
already mentioned that it was quarried near the mouth of Oak-orchard creek, and used in the 
works pertaining to the harbor. 
The rock under consideration is mostly inclined to disintegration upon exposure to the 
weather, although quite firm when first quarried. In this respect it resembles the sandstone 
of the Genesee river, below Rochester, of which it is a continuation. 
Thin layers of limestone are extracted from the bed of Oak-orchard creek, between Me¬ 
dina and Shelby, and used at the former place for flagging. They appear to be of a siliceous 
character, occur in large slabs, and the surfaces are frequently covered with fossil vegetables 
of the family of fucoids ; they strongly resemble the petrified stems of terrene plants. 
Williams’s quarry, in the northeast part of the town of Barre, furnishes a siliceous or sandy 
limestone, at present used for fences and underpinning, and which resembles the rock employ¬ 
ed in Monroe county for the preparation of water cement. 
A grey, porous, siliceous limestone is quarried at Farwell’s mills, Clarendon centre, and 
used in buildings. Some of the layers contain a considerable proportion of lime, although 
they mostly consist of a porous, flinty rock, much resembling the French buhrstone. The 
quarry is quite extensive, and occupies the summit of the ridge which overlooks the village. 
Its porous structure is due to the removal of small fossils and fragments of crinoidal stems. 
