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Building with Potsdam Red Sandstone: the Early Years Susan Omohundro

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Building with Potsdam Red Sandstone: the Early Years Susan Omohundro The St. Lawrence County Historical Association Ouarterlv Volume XLIV- Number 1- Winter 1999 The St. Lawrence County Historical Association at the Silas Wright House The St. Lawrence County Historical Association is a private, not-fo p organization the based at Silas Wright House in Canton, Association3~spverned...Z .. ...... by a constitution, by-laws, and Board of Trustees. membership mee&~anrmallyto elect its officers and trustees. .tl ::: 2000 OfSicers: 2000 Trustees: President: Richard Foster, Chris Angus, Canton $ Vice-President: Carl Patricia Carson, Canton 1 Treasurer: Carol Shawn Gray, Massena 5 Secretary: ~athlee~~oro,Canton Gary Kelly, Potsdam 4 William Lacy, Gouverneur I E. Jane Layo, Waddington 1 Stan Maine, Pierrepont f 2000 stah. Lowell McAllister, ~euvelhn ~re&lock, Executive Director Jane Subramanian, ~otsdd sue"kgshore, Collections Manager Joanne Swift, Potsdam 8 Mary ~TWJones, Archives Assistant Peter Van de Water, cant04 Will ~o~ce,h&ninistrativeAssistant Robert Wells, Canton Susie Wood, Hammond Cay Zabriskie, ogdensbur& The St. Lawrence County Historical Associati museum which serves as an educational resource for the use and benefit of the citizens of St. Lawrence County and others interested in the County's history and traditions. The Association collects and preserves archival material and artifacts perhnent to the County's history. In cooperation and collaboration with other local organizations, the Association promotes an understanding of and appreciation for the County's rich history through publications, exhibits, and programs. The St. Lawrence County Historical Association operates within museum standards established by the American Association of Museums. SLCHA Membership Membership in the St. Lawrence County Historical Association is open to all interestedparties. Annual membership dues are: Individual, $25; SeniorIStudent, $20; Family, $35; Contributor, $50; Supporter, $100; Patron, $250; Businesses, $50 to $1,000. Members receive the SLCHA Quarterly, the Historical Association's bi-monthly newsletter, and various discounts on publications, programs and events. St. Lawrence County Historical Association at the Silas Wright House 3 East Main Street, PO Box 8 Canton, New York 13617 (315) 386-8133 The St. Lawrence Countv Historical Association Quarterly Volume XLIV - Number 1 - 1999 ISSN: 6558-1931 CONTENTS Building with Potsdam Red Sandstone: The Early Years Susan Omohundro Mia1 R. Pierce: ClergymanISoldier Richard G Hutchinson Grandpa Charles Haley: October 18, 1859-June 14, 1936 James S. Nichols Issue Editor: J. Rebecca Thompson Cover Illustration The grist mill on the Racquette River in Potsdarn built in 1835. Tom down in 1972, it stood on the site of what is now a fast food restaurant just to the west of the Maple Street bridge. Courtesy of Potsdam Museum (P2329h) Building with Potsdam Red Sandstone: The Early Years By Susan Omohundro Introduction began to rise, ending the deposi- The layers of stone suitable for One of the distinguishing tion of new sand layers and be- building material are about sev- characteristics of St. Lawrence ginning the long process of ero- enty feet thick. County's architectural history is sion. the prevalence of sandstone ma- The earliest Racquette River sonry. Use of sandstone for con- It is the fine-grained quartz quarry is the Parmeter Ledge. It struction began early in the nine- that makes Potsdam stone unusu- was opened by Nathaniel and teenth century but tapered off ally durable for a sandstone and Solomon Parmeter some time af- after 1900. The quarries on a thus a good building material. ter 1809. By 1813, the Gazetteer short stretch of the Racquette When first removed from the of the State ofNew Yorkreported, River near Potsdam produced a beds, the wet stone may be cut "Five quarries of stone are found distinctive red sandstone. Forty or split fairly easily with hand on the Racket River, and by the buildings composed of that red tools, but exposure to air hard- remarks of a Correspondent, I sandstone remain in the county. ens it. should suppose they embraced This article is based on an inven- both marble, and a reddish sand tory of those buildings under- Major quarries in the Potsdam or free-stone." (Spafford 1813). taken in preparation of a group sandstone formation were lo- nomination for the National Reg- cated at Hammond, Malone, Fort In the latter 19th century the ister of Historic Places. The Jackson, and Keeseville, but the Parmeter Ledge was expanded nomination identifies two dis- "type site" geologists have by the Potsdam Red Sandstone tinct periods of sandstone use adopted for the description of Company, which also took stone based on typical features of ma- Potsdam sandstone is the from several other locations sonry and architecture. This ar- Parmeter Ledge, located on the opened by its predecessors along ticle will report on the first, or Racquette River near the the Racquette's west-side pioneer period. Potsdam-Pierrepont town line. riverbanks from the Parmeter Ironically, the stone at this site is Ledge south to Hannawa Falls. Potsdam Red Sandstone atypical of the unit as a whole The Clarkson Sandstone Com- The geological formation because of its complex layering pany quarries were closer to known as Potsdam sandstone of beds, which may be the an- Potsdam village, on both sides of was deposited about 500 million cient remains of a river delta or the river. Its earlier quarry was years ago in the late Cambrian sand dunes (Van Diver 1976:82). on the west side near where the to early Ordovician period. As well, the ledge's dark red Sugar Island dam was built in Within the state of New York, it color, which comes from iron, is 1922. A later quarry was opened occurs in a wide band that not often seen in Potsdam sand- on the east side in 1877just north stretches across northern New stone elsewhere in the state. of the present-day Hannawa Falls York from the Thousand Islands hydroelectric station. Unfortu- in Jefferson County to Lake Quarries nately, to date we have found Champlain in Essex County. The largest and most numer- only a few scraps of documenta- Geologists propose that these ous quarries for Potsdam red tion about any of these quarries. deposits represent a near-shore sandstone in St. Lawrence Most of these quarries were marine environment. By the late County were located on the abandoned by 1922 when the Cambrian period, the "Potsdam banks of the Racquette River, Sugar Island dam was built, Sea," a shallow inland sea, lay mostly on the west side, in the flooding the area. The Parmeter north of the Adirondack Moun- two mile section between Sugar Ledge is the only site still being tains. The clean sands were laid Island (two miles south of worked today. down near shore, until the land Potsdam) and Hannawa Falls. St. Lmvrence Coun!y Historical Association Quarterly Early Masonry and Architec- ture In the pioneer era, people tended to build their houses and work buildings with readily available materials. Stone was quarried and shaped using hand tools, then transported by cart, so it was carried only a few miles. Thus, the quarries were small and conveniently located, usually where sandstone was exposed naturally, along streams or cliff faces. Most of the early struc- tures were private homes, mills, or farm buildings within ten miles of the quarries. At first, the pioneer period's masonry style featured simple rectangular blocks in courses. The blocks typically measure three or four inches high and about twelve inches wide. Thus at a distance such masonry re- sembles brickwork. Usually the grain is horizontal. Normally only the front wall-the most prominent-has coursed rectan- gular blocks while the other walls employ smaller, more ran- dom stones. Courtesy ofJohn Omohundro There remain today only four Periods of Sandstone ended about 1850, when there buildings featuring rectangular Construction occurred a fifteen-year hiatus in blocks laid in courses: three resi- Construction using Potsdam sandstone masonry. dences and one commercial red sandstone occurred in two building. distinct periods, the pioneer and The industrial period began the industrial. The pioneer period in 1868 when the quarries were The plain coursed-block style began in the 181 Os, when the first mechanized and cut stone was appears mostly in the oldest quarries were opened. Churches, transported by rail throughout the structures dated to the first half barns, factories, commercial northeastern United States and of the 1820s. Portions of a few buildings, and, most notably, into Canada. Most structures buildings, especially their foun- residences were built, all within built in the industrial period were dations or ground floors, may a short distance of the quarries. large institutional or commercial have been built before 182 1, but The numerous local quarries buildings in the newly popular the first sandstone structure for made the stone accessible to pri- ashlar masonry style, which used which reliable records remain is vate citizens, who used it to dis- rough-surfaced, rectangular, ran- the 1821 Raymond-Knowles play their growing affluence and domly-sized blocks. Red sand- commercial building at 30 Mar- expectations of long-term socio- stone industry and architecture ket Street in Potsdarn village, economic stability. Masonry was flourished in the 1880s and now occupied by Deborah A. usually laid in courses of 1890s, then gradually declined to Cady Jewelry. The Raymond- smooth-surfaced stones of mod- extinction around 1920. Knowles building is often de- est size. The pioneer period St. Lmvrence County Historical Association Quarterly Potsdam kfirst sana!stone building, at 30 Market Street. Note the small size ofthe stones. The 1823 John Call house, now the Elks Club, has acquired a Victorianporch and roof brackets. scribed as an "experiment" in September. Weather permitting, Another mason, George sandstone construction. Good six to eight men might work on Train, built what was probably records kept by Sewall Raymond any given day.
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