The first important buildings in Washington DC such as the White House and the Capitol were constructed of Virginia Freestone otherwise known as Aquia Creek Sandstone. This stone was, fortuitously, located only about 45 miles from the Capital along the Potomac River in Stafford County, Virginia.
This allowed Virginia Freestone to be sailed up to the city quickly and cheaply. It has to be remembered that the road system in the late 18th and early 19th century was so crude that it was cheaper to import marble from Italy then it was to bring it down from Vermont.
Additionally, Washington DC is located in the physiographic province called the Coastal Plain where it is rare to find consolidated stone. Upriver from Georgetown, though, above the fall line in the Piedmont province, there was terrific quarry potential, but Little Falls and Great Falls were in the way making the river unnavigable. Those quarries would have to await canal development which was soon to come.
If you are interested in finding out more about this historical stone, I can recommend three books:
“Birthstone of the White House and the Capitol” by Jane Hollenbeck Conner
“The Great Rock of Aquia” by Jerrilynn Eby and Alaric R. MacGregor III.
“Potomac Marble: A History of the Search for the Ideal Stone” by Paul Kreingold
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