{"id":143,"date":"2023-03-19T15:58:47","date_gmt":"2023-03-19T19:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/?p=143"},"modified":"2023-03-21T13:27:06","modified_gmt":"2023-03-21T17:27:06","slug":"seneca-sandstone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/sandstone\/seneca-sandstone\/","title":{"rendered":"Seneca Sandstone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the 18th century the Potomac River was unnavigable upriver from Georgetown because Little Falls and Great Falls blocked the way. In 1785 George Washington formed the Potomac Company to solve this problem. The company sent crews up and down the Potomac and its tributaries using black powder to blast any impediments to navigation. By 1802 locks had been built around Little Falls and Great Falls opening up the mighty river, at least when the water level was sufficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These locks at Great Falls were constructed of Seneca Sandstone extracted from a quarry about 10 miles upriver along the Maryland side of the Potomac. With the completion of these locks, Seneca sandstone soon was available for construction in Washington DC. Its characteristically red color proved very popular and some of the most iconic buildings in the capital city are constructed of this stone, for example, the Smithsonian Castle pictured below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To visit the Seneca Quarry set your GPS to Riley\u2019s Lock on the C&O Canal. Don\u2019t miss the ruins of the 1830\u2019s stone cutting building, a water-powered mill which used reciprocating saws to cut the stone. Although currently in a sorry state, it is hoped that it will soon be rehabilitated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Above the quarry, although not open to the public is a private residence which was the house provided to the quarry foreman. Most interesting is that the house seemed to serve as a \u201cStyle Book\u201d for the quarry, demonstrating various stone sizes and faces which were available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more on the Seneca Quarry: “The Smithsonian Castle and the Seneca Quarry” by Garrett Peck<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more on The Potomac Company: “The Potomac Canal” by Robert J. Kapsch<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more on George Washington\u2019s Potomac River vision: “The Grand Idea” by Joel Achenbach<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t forget, my book, “Potomac Marble: The History of the Search for the Ideal Stone” is now available. Benjamin Latrobe’s Potomac Marble Quarry is just a few miles upstream from the Seneca Sandstone quarry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Smithsonian Castle is constructed of Seneca sandstone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"With
With friends at the face of the Seneca quarry. 2\/29\/20.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A
Close-up of Seneca Quarry face. 2\/2920<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
Sad remains of the Stone Cutting mill at the Seneca Quarry which operated from the approximately 1830 to the 1880. Notice that it is, of course, constructed from Seneca sandstone. 12\/03\/22<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Just
Just outside this opening in the Stone Cutting mill wall, a water wheel powered by Potomac River water, drove a central belt which powered the saws and polishing machines. 12\/03\/22<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"This
This is the Seneca Quarry foreman’s residence built from quarry stone. Notice that it is a duplex. This is private residence which is not open to the public.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The foreman’s house was constructed as a “style book” demonstrating the different sizes and faces the stone could be ordered in. 12\/02\/22<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"This
This is an anchor for a stone-lifting derrick. There are multiple examples on the site. 12\/02\/22<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"This
This is the remains of a railroad, probably mule-powered, used to carry the stones out of the quarry. 12\/03\/22<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the 18th century the Potomac River was unnavigable upriver from Georgetown because Little Falls and Great Falls blocked the way. In 1785 George Washington formed the Potomac Company to solve this problem. The company sent crews up and down the Potomac and its tributaries using black powder to blast any impediments to navigation. By […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sandstone"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":168,"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions\/168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}