St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-11-26
BUILDING STONE.
Minnesota's Wealth of the ChOiC-
est Rock and Earth.


est Rock and Earth.
A critical examination of the building
materials of Minnesota will demonstrate
a fact that is, probably. too new to be
generally known. 1t is worthy Of the
utmost publicity, however, that, with
out execution, no single state in
the Union is equal to the
North Star state in the divers
ity of building resources and in
the excellent quality of, at least, some
or the materials of construction and
ornamentation. The casual visitors,
tourists and delegates to conventions in
the Twin Cities have been deeply i'm
pressed by the character OF the fine
buildings, as we'll as greatly surprised
to know that they are built of home
materials. The pinerieS of the state
are we'll advertised, but the superiority
of the granite, dOlOmitic limestone,
crystalline rocks, QuartZite stone, the
various cOlorS of Syenite rocks: the red
brick, fire brick, cement; stone for
making lime, and sand for making
plaster, have not become so generally
familiar to the outside world.
The Sandstone.
There is no better or more attractive
sandstone for architectural purposes
than the red sandstone Quarried at
Fond du Lac. New Ulm, Sault Ste.
Marie, in Pipestone county, and along
the shore of Lake Superior. 1t is of a
very durable quality, and is fine
grained-capable of being readily
carved into various forms of ornamental
ton. Several costly buildings in st.
Paul, Minneapolis and Duluth have
fronts of this stone, and it is extensively
used III trimmings for buildings. 1t is
we'll known in Milwaukee, Chicago and
Detroit. In the latter-named city it is
called the Isle Royal brOWn5tOne. 1t is
used in the Milwaukee court house. This
stone is, in most places, reddiSh-brOWn,
but some of it has a nothing of red,
gray or green. There is another excel
lent quality of sandstone that is gener-
ally sought for building purposes. 1t is
used in railroad bridges, as well as in
other architectural structures. 1t will
stand a greater pressure than the sand
stone used in other states, and is very
durable 4 test shows that it will stand
pressure of II 800 pounds per square
inch when set on edge, or of 1900
pounds when on bed. In color 1t varies,
being gray, yellow or pinkiSh. The
first quarry was opened at Fort Smelling
in 1859. and the bridge piers there were
built of it, ana drew much attention for
IL
found along the Mississippi, st. CrOiX,
Root and Black rivers. and also in the
counties of Winona. Houston, Fillmore,
Scott and Dakota. The ladies' hall OF
| Carlton college is built of this stone. 1t
completes with the Ohio stone in the
markets Of Chicago and the Southwest
ern states.
Binding Linn stone.
The limestone having large percent
| age of carbonate of magnesia is an eX
| ceilent building material, and is used
! extensively in the state. The dOlOmitic
! limestone ranks very high as building
| material 1t is homogeneous, and will
| stand pressure of $4,000 pounds to the
| square inch. which is more than that of
| most GRANTEES. 1t is unsurpassed for
door holdings and caps for sills and
| water tables and trimmings for brick
structures, This stone is not in
! feriOr to that seen in numer
Gus remains of Roman architecture
in England, such as at York. CAMS
burgh castle, which is as old as the time
of the NOrmanS, and the houses Of par
! lament at Westminster are constructed
of similar material. Theloldest quarry
| of it in tile state is at Saltwater, opened
in 1917. Among the buildings erected
! from this stone are the st. Paul custom
| house. the Saltwater state prison, the
| state university, the cathedral, st. Paul,
| and numerous churches ana substantial
buildings in the Twin Cities, Saltwater,
| Red Wing, WinOna. LaneSbOrO, and, in
| fact. all over the state. There are quar-
ries of this stone at Minneapolis, St.
Paul, Saltwater, Blue Earth City. Man
lorylIle, Faribauit. Red Wing, Fr0nte-
nac. WinOna. Stockton, ShakOpee, Man
kato. Caledonia, Lanesboro. Hastings
Brownsville, OwatOnna. Kasota, st.
Peter, Albert Lea ana along the bluffs
of the Mississippi and st. CrOix rivers
and elsewhere.
Fine Quantities.
The red quartzite is the hardest stone
in the state or, possibly, III the United
States, that is used for building pur-
poses. 1t Is difficult to dress into
blocks, but is indeStructible when
placed in wall. \ quarry OF 1t was
opened at RedStone i'll 1859 1t IS red
dish or pinkish red i'm some localities
in others massive portions are purpliSh
rose red. or ''faWn cOlored'-the latter
being known as the KaSOta stone. The
county Jail and Touring mill at Sioux
Falls. and the Dakota territorial peni
Tertiary are built of this rock, and it is
used at Omaha for street paving. 1t viii
take perfect polish, and VIII retain
longer than granite. OHldlt OIHdIl6Ut
have been made of some OF the richly
colored strata and sold under the namt
of casper" Monument bases are made
from it. The stone is coming into gen
eral use in this and adjoining states
The KaSota variety was used IN erectln!
the KittsOn mansion in st. Paul and IL
a number of other buildings. The priD
cipal Quarries of the quartZite rock ar
in the counties of NicOllet, Cottonwood
Rock, Pipestone, and near Sioux Falls
S. d.
Splendid GRANTEES.
The crystalline rock or granite wa
first quarried in the state at st. Cloud Il
1865. and the first use made of it was 70
steps in the government building at 81
= | Paul. This grauite is rapidly growing
. | into favor, because of its durability
| beauty and susceptibility of bein
, highly polished. In 1874 ten-tOn bloc
; of the red syenite was taken out at 81
I Cloud, to be used as monument base
! and delivered to Chicago customer
r This granite is quarried unde
> favorable circumstances III seyera
: parts of the state. In til
= counties of Benton, Sherbu1n
+ and Stearns the varieties are red an
Q gray. The st. Cloud granite, now ger
n orally used, is gray. Its texture IS IN
: form. The crystalline grains are rattle
n fine and close. 1t has occasional greer
ism spots that are occasionally as larg
n as six inches III diameter. In the re
V syenite there is found teldspar of fes