BUILDING STONE. 601 
West Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. It has been used in the 
construction of the court-house at Athens, and the Children’s Home 
building at Gallipolis, Ohio, and the Western Penitentiary of Pennsyl- 
vania, at Allegheny. 
The quarry of Mr. J. M. Inskeep is located about 12 miles below 
Portsmouth, on the Ohio river, at a horizon about 60 feet above the 
Buena Vista stone proper. There are 30 feet of rock in about 20 dit- 
ferent layers. The lowest course, about 32 inches in thickness, is the 
most valuable stone. This course is covered by 4 feet of blue shale, 
which is the largest mass of shale in this section. The other shale de- 
posits are but little more than partings between layers of sandstone. 
The courses are remarkably even in thickness, but those above the 
lowest do not yield a strictly first-class material. For the last threc or 
four years this quarry has supplied material most extensively for the 
Columbus market, and a number of fine stone fronts have ben construct- 
ed from it. The stone varies considerably in quality, and needs to be 
carefully inspected. 
The southwestern portion of Scioto county and the southeastern 
corner of Adams county, two adjoining districts, were once the most 1m- 
portant localities in Ohio for the production of building stone. In the 
earlier days of the state an engineer of reputation, employed upon the 
construction of canals, became conversant with the then: known build- 
ing stones of the state, and recognizing the great value and accessibility 
of the ledge, commonly known as the Buena Vista Freestone ledge, 
bought a large territory here, and began the development of the quar- 
ries in a large way. Other horizons of good rock were found at various 
levels, but this one bed, by its color and quality, supplied the Cincinnati 
market almost exclusively. Its reputation spreads throughout the 
whole Ohio valley and beyond. Large quarries were opened on both 
sides of the river, government patronage was secured, and material for 
the construction of custom-houses and other public buildings was ordered 
from the Buena Vista quarries. So great was the demand for this stone 
that material of poor quality as well as good was hurried into the market. 
The green stone while full of quarry water was laid in massive walls, 
and the bad behavior of this material soon excluded the stone almost 
entirely from the market. It is, however, as good now as when it 
earned its high reputation, but needs careful and conscientious selection 
and suitable seasoning. 
