page_title: Jacobsville Sandstone
section_title: Material qualities
hierarchical_section_title: Jacobsville Sandstone / Uses / Material qualities
caption_attribution_description: English: Saint Ignatius Loyola Church Houghton MIEspañol: Iglesia de San Ignatius Loyola en Houghton, Michigan
context_page_description: Jacobsville Sandstone is a red sandstone formation, marked with light-colored streaks and spots, primarily found in northern Upper Michigan, portions of Ontario, and under much of Lake Superior. Desired for its durability and aesthetics, the sandstone was used as an architectural building stone both locally and around the United States. The stone was extracted by thirty-two quarries throughout the Upper Peninsula approximately between 1870 and 1915.
  The sandstone has been variously called redstone, brownstone, Lake Superior Sandstone, and Eastern Sandstone. In 1907, the Jacobsville Formation was given its current classification and the name Jacobsville, in honor of Jacobsville, Michigan, a town known for its production of the sandstone. There is disagreement regarding the age of the sandstone, though it dates to sometime between the Mesoproterozoic Era and the Middle Cambrian. The formation is of terrestrial origin and is entirely devoid of fossils.
context_section_description: Jacobsville Sandstone was popular as a building material because of its strength, durability and aesthetic appeal. In particular, it is resistant to the extremes in temperature of fire and the freeze-thaw cycle of northern climates. The Mining Journal of Marquette reported on November 20, 1875, that:
  Its fire-proof qualities were thoroughly tested in the great Chicago fire, where Lake Superior brownstone walls ... stood intact, without a crack, scale or blemish being caused by the great heat under the influence of which marble fronts crumbled and fell to the ground.
  The sandstone was inexpensively obtainable in large quantities and transport by the Great Lakes further reduced costs. It is also easily worked and carved, and could be used throughout a building. The most desired stone was without white blemishes and with uniform coloring. The Richardsonian Romanesque style, which is "particularly suited for expression in colored stone", helped to popularize the sandstone in architecture. Buildings of this style created the impression of stability in a fast-changing society and were well-suited to the character of the Lake Superior region.
caption: Saint Ignatius Loyola Church in Houghton was built with Jacobsville Sandstone.
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