Tuckahoe marble(also known asInwoodandWestchester marble) is a type ofmarblefound in southernNew Yorkand westernConnecticutin theNortheastern United States.Part of theInwood Formationof theManhattan Prong,it dates from theLate Cambrianto theEarly Ordovicianages (~484ma ago). It was first quarried on a large scale commercially in the village ofTuckahoe, New York.Deposits are also found in theInwoodarea ofManhattan,New York City,inEastchester, New York,and extending southward to parts ofthe Bronx,such asKingsbridge,Mott Haven,MelroseandTremontandMarble Hill.Other locations inWestchester CountyincludeOssining,Hastings,andThornwood.
| Tuckahoe marble | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range:Late Cambrian,Early Ordovician | |
 TheFederal Hall National Memorialin Manhattan, constructed using Tuckahoe marble. | |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | marble |
| Location | |
| Region | Westchester County&Inwood, New York |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Tuckahoe, New York (orInwoodandWestchester, New York) |
Description and geology
editTuckahoe marble is a high quality marble first quarried on a large commercial scale in 1822 in the village ofTuckahoein Westchester County. The marble is from the larger Inwood Formation or deposit, which stretches northeasterly from mid-Manhattan through southern Westchester and into western Connecticut.[1]The marble is characterized scientifically as adolomiticmarble and varies in color from a light gray to light green, to a bluish white or brilliant white. A distinctive characteristic is the medium-to-coarse size of thecalciteanddolomiteparticles that primarily compose the stone, which often contains minor amounts ofhematiteandpyrite.Oxidationof these iron-bearing minerals causes certain varieties of the marble to turn orange-brown when the stone is exposed to weather.[2]
History
edit
The vast majority of the early residential and commercial buildings inNew York Citywere constructed with wood while government and institutional buildings and mansions of the wealthy were often built of brick or stone. Locally quarried Manhattan schist and sandstone from the lower Hudson Valley were typically used before marble became more popular. By the late 18th century, marble was being produced by a number of quarries in northern Manhattan and along the Hudson River in Westchester. The most well-known quarry that supplied stone from the deposit was in the area now known asTuckahoe.This "Tuckahoe marble" was nearly pure white in color and considered by many to be of the highest grade.
Many federal buildings destroyed by the British during theWar of 1812were rebuilt with Tuckahoe marble. The commercial marble industry first developed along theBronx River.In 1818 the Tuckahoe Marble Quarry opened and eventually became a major producer of marble for the world. These local marble quarries were the main reason that the state government of New York choseSing Singas the site of a new prison in 1825.[3]
From 1865 to 1871, hundreds ofScottishandIrishlaborers blasted huge quantities of marble from the quarry atHastings-on-Hudson.Aninclined railroadcarried it down to the quarry wharf on theHudson Riverwhere it was dressed byskilled stonecuttersand loaded onto ships and barges bound for New York City and beyond, as far asCharleston, South Carolina.[citation needed]By the 1880s, Hastings Pavement was producing the paving blocks used extensively inCentral ParkandProspect ParkinBrooklyn.Between 1895 and 1900, Hastings Pavement produced 10 million such blocks and shipped them throughout the U.S. and to cities inCanada,BrazilandEngland.
White Tuckahoe marble supplied the early United States with a building material suitable for the neoclassical architecture popular in America's early public buildings. Tuckahoe Marble was the single most important white marble deposit in the country until the latter part of the 1800s, when development of the railroad made the extensive, high quality marble deposits of southwestern Vermont more available. Quarrying of Tuckahoe marble ceased in 1930.[where?]
Buildings and structures
editLocal
editLocal structures constructed of Inwood marble include:
- New York Marble Cemetery(1830) burial vaults, aboveground walls, and engraved tablets
- New York City Marble Cemetery(1831) burial vaults and aboveground walls
- Colonnade Row/LaGrange Terrace (1832), Manhattan
- Marble Schoolhouse(1835),Eastchester, New York
- Federal Hall National Memorial(1842), Manhattan
- A.T. Stewart Company Store(also known as the Sun Building; the "Marble Palace" ) (1845–46), Manhattan
- Grace Episcopal Church(1846), Manhattan
- Brooklyn Borough Hall(1849)
- Marble Collegiate Church,Manhattan (1851-54)
- Seaman-Drake Arch.Manhattan (1855)
- St. Patrick's Cathedral(1858–78), Manhattan
- Tweed Courthouse(1861–72), Manhattan
- Washington Square Arch(1891), Manhattan
- Union Baptist Church(1904), New Rochelle
- Immaculate Conception Church(1911), Eastchester
Distant
editProminent uses of Tuckahoe marble beyond the New York City metropolitan area include:
- General Post Office(now theHotel Monaco) (1842), Washington, D.C.
- Washington Monument(1848), Washington, D.C.
- Marble House(1888–92), Newport, Rhode Island
- Gallier Hall(1853), New Orleans, Louisiana
See also
editReferences
edit- ^Tuckahoe Marble
- ^Diane S. Kaese and Michael F. Lynch (2008)."Marble in (and Around) the City Its Origins and Use in Historic New York Buildings"(PDF).Common Bond.22(2 (Autumn 2008)): 7.
- ^Crime Library profile of Sing Sing Prison"All about Sing Sing Prison, by Mark Gado - the Crime library".Archived fromthe originalon 2007-05-27.Retrieved2018-06-28.
Further reading
edit- Torres, Louis (1976),Tuckahoe Marble: The Rise and Fall of an Industry in Eastchester, New York, 1822-1930;Harrison, N.Y., Harbor Hill Books.
- Urquhart, Gordon Ross (1986),The Architectural History of the Westchester Marble Industry;Unpublished Master's Thesis, School of Architecture,Columbia University.
- Ware, Robert Lamb (2001),A Comparison of Fresh and Weathered Marble from the Tweed Courthouse: A Thesis in Historic Preservation Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master of Science;University of Pennsylvania.