Brownstone Brownstone Is Regarded As the Unofficial State Rock of New Jersey

New Jersey Geological and Water Survey Information Circular

New Jersey Brownstone Brownstone is regarded as the unofficial state rock of New Jersey. It is a reddish- to chocolate-brown sandstone used extensively as a building stone in the eastern United States during the nineteenth century. Its place in geologic history, however, dates back to Late Triassic and Early Jurassic times, about two hundred million years ago when the dinosaurs were establishing their domination over the lands. During this time, rivers poured sand-laden water far and wide over low- land plains of central New Jersey. Subsequently, the quartz grains, in company with particles of orthoclase feldspar and sometimes muscovite mica as well, were transformed by natural cementation into sandstone. This hardening process was accomplished by the mineral hematite, a red oxide of iron, which not only bound the sand particles together but imparted the characteristic color as well. Because of its feldspar content, geologists refer to this rock as an arkose, or arkosic sand- stone” (Yolton, 1960). These sandstones occur in the Stockton and Passaic Formations, which are found in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic and Somerset Counties (fig. 1).

New Jersey, it eventually fell out Introduction of favor. Changes in architectural styles and the rock’s susceptibility In the eighteenth and nineteenth to deterioration lead to its decline centuries brownstone became as a building material in the late prized by the building industry. nineteenth and early twentieth Despite its history as an inexpensive centuries (Guinness, 2002). substitute for marble or limestone, brownstone came to epitomize Brownstone Quarrying luxury and architectural sophis- tication. When first quarried, the Brownstone quarrying was labor stone is pink, but soon weathers intensive. In order to remove the to an even, rich, attractive brown, stone as efficiently as possible, a making it a desirable building worker knowledgeable with the material. Brownstone could also be mechanics of extraction such as Figure 2. Channeling and wedging by worked fairly easily using available a company prospector, geologist, hand (from the trade magazine “The Man- tools, giving it another advantage or rock boss decided where to cut ufacturer and Builder”, 1891). over competing quarry stone (Lock- the stone. This was accomplished wood, 1972). Though brownstone by studying the rock structure because it was cheaper and easier was quarried and used in building (Guinness, 2002). Brownstone was than channeling and wedging. The construction for over 200 years in quarried most efficiently where the drawback of blasting brownstone rock was regularly layered in mas- was that more stone was lost. Most brownstone quarry sive beds that were obliquely cut by of the time, blasting was only used numerous fractures. The channel- when quarrying for rubble and Physiographic SUSSEX Provinces PASSAIC Valley and Ridge ing and wedging process was the stone for cellar walls (“The Manu- BERGEN Highlands main method used to remove the facturer and Builder”, 1891). Piedmont MORRIS Coastal Plain ESSEX brownstone (fig. 2). Channels were

WARREN first cut into three sides of the rock HUDSON UNION face. Wedges were placed into the

HUNTERDON channels and the rocks were then SOMERSET split off into blocks of the desired area of detail MIDDLESEX size. The channeling and wedging MONMOUTH MERCER process was done by hand during the eighteenth to late nineteenth centuries. Figure 1. Map of former brownstone quar- Figure 3. Channeling and wedging with rys in New Jersey (locations from Zdep- At times, blasting was also used to power equipment at a brownstone quarry in ski, 2002). free the stone from the quarry wall Upper Montclair, N.J. (NJGWS Archives). scrappling yard for cutting and seasoning. Seasoning or “drying” of the stone was necessary because the rock, as it came from the quarry, contained a large amount of quarry water called “sap” (Guin- ness, 2002). This quarry water Figure 7. Derrick at the De Flesco Broth- allowed the stone to be carved ers Quarry, Wilburtha, Ewing Township. easily, but if not properly seasoned One of many central New Jersey Brown- Figure 4. Wagon for removal of stone in stone quarries. May 20, 1932. (NJGWS sandstone quarry, Upper Montclair, N.J. the water would cause damage to Archives). (NJGWS Archives). the stone later. Seasoning was achieved by covering the stone with were operated in many locations Quarrying technology continually soil for about four months (Guin- thoroughout central New Jersey. improved throughout the brown- ness, 2002). Once the stone was They furnished handsome brown- stone era. Machines were used properly seasoned, the exposed stone fronts for houses and public after the late nineteenth century surfaces were considered case- buildings. All of the quarries were (Guinness, 2002). Figure 3 shows hardened, creating a finish more advantageously located to trans- mechanical equipment used to resistant to weathering. At this port the stone by railroad or canal. quarry brownstone. point, the stone was shipped for Near Princeton and northward from Techniques of moving brownstone dressing and carving. Trenton to Raven Rock in Delaware from quarries also evolved during Some New Jersey brownstone Township, quarries along the Dela- the brownstone era. In the early quarries did their own dressing and ware and Raritan Canal (fig. 7) sup- years, oxen, mules, and horses carving on site while other quarries plied excellent building stone from were used to haul the rock from the had the brownstone sent to differ- the Stockton Formation. Many quarry (fig. 4). Later, narrow-gauge ent locations. Dressing and carving thousands of tons were quarried railroads were built (fig. 5), replac- buildings contained saws, lathes, annually and often the demand ing these animals (Guinness, 2002). planers, cutting, rubbing and carv- exceeded supply (Yolton, 1960). When it became available, steam ing equipment (Zdepski, 2002). Brownstone quarried from the power was used in the excava- Passaic Formation near Newark tion and removal of stone from the Brownstone and provided the building stone for the quarry floor. Huge derricks were the Building Industry Old First Presbyterian Church in set up on promontories jutting into the quarries at right angles to the In colonial times the Stockton quarry face to remove the stone Formation was recognized as the (fig. 5). The derricks would pivot around a base so that nearly every

Figure 6. Nassau Hall, Princeton Univer- sity. (T. Pallis, 2006). Figure 5. Raven Rock Brownstone Quarry with narrow gauge railroad and derricks, best building stone in the Dela- Delaware Township, Hunterdon County. May 19, 1932. (NJGWS Archives). ware Valley. This brownstone was chosen for Nassau Hall (fig. 6), part of the quarry floor was within completed in 1756, at Princeton easy reach (Guinness, 2002). University (Yolton, 1960). Once brownstone was removed, During the first half of the nine- Figure 8. Old First Presbyterian Church, the blocks of stone went to the teenth century, sandstone quarries Newark. (Z. Allen-Lafayette, 2006). Newark (fig. 8). It was dedicated the vicinity of Newark, were aban- in 1791 and for many years was doned as cities expanded. Brown- the largest church in New Jersey stone continued to be used for public (Yolton, 1960). buildings, but not as frequently as Brownstone quarries in thick before. An example is the Navesink beds at Little Falls in Passaic Twin Lights lighthouse in Highlands County produced a superior, fine- Boro, Monmouth County. It was grained red building stone from built in 1862 of local New Jersey the Passaic Formation. The sand- brownstone at a cost of $74,000 stone was dubbed “liver rock” by Figure 11. Old Queens, Rutgers Univer- (fig. 12). Architect Joseph Lederle sity, New Brunswick. (Z. Allen-Lafayette, 2006). designed the structure with two non-identical towers linked by keep- Quarries in the Passiac Forma- ers’ quarters and storage rooms. tion in Belleville near Newark, By the turn of the twentieth cen- however, were the most produc- tury, quarrying was on a much tive, supplying more material for the fronts of brownstone houses (fig.10) than any other source in the country (Yolton, 1960). A light chocolate-brown sandstone from Figure 9. Lambert Castle, located in Pater- the area was noted for its quality to son, was built with a brownstone exterior in 1893 by wealthy silk manufacturer, art rub down to a smooth surface. Old collector, and amateur architect Catho- Queens, completed in 1809 at Rut- lina Lambert. (Z. Allen-Lafayette, 2006). gers University (fig. 11), was built of local workmen, due to its deep, rich Belleville brownstone from the Pas- Figure 13. St. Mary’s Church in Whar- ton Boro, Morris County, was designed color (Yolton, 1960). Shipped via saic Formation. by Jeremiah O’Rourke, and erected in the Morris Canal, this stone was By the mid nineteenth-century, 1872. The church is unusual for the used in the construction of man- many of the quarries, especially in use of local mined stone, Little Falls brownstone trimmings, open truss roof, sions and churches in Paterson, and pre-opalescent glass (N.J. Historic Newark and New York City (fig. 9). Trust). (Z. Allen-Lafayette, 2006).

Figure 12. The Navesink Twin Lights Figure 10. Brownstone fronted row lighthouse south tower in Highlands Figure 14. St. Mary’s Church brownstone houses, Van Voorst Park, Jersey City. (Z. Boro. The lighthouse sits 200 feet above trimmed window. (Z. Allen-Lafayette, Allen-Lafayette, 2006). the Atlantic Ocean. (L. Pallis, 2006). 2006). Report of State Geologist for the http://www.nj.gov/dca/njht/ Year 1908, p. 89). When the stone funded/sitedetails/stmarysro- peels or flakes along these bedding mancatholicchurch.html, website planes, the process is known as accessed November, 2011. exfoliation (Zdepski, 2002). Proper façade maintenance spe- The Brownstone Guide, Mainte- cific to sandstone is critical to pre- nance & Repair Facts for Historic vention of deterioration. Repairs may Property Owners, 2003. New York be complex and are best performed Landmarks Conservancy Technical by a professional restorer (fig. 16). Services Center, 8 pages. Figure 15. St. Mary’s Church brownstone cornerstone with date. (Z. Allen-Lafay- ette, 2006). The Manufacturer and Builder, 1891, Quarrying Sandstone by smaller scale (Yolton, 1960) with Channeling and Wedging, p. 57. most brownstone now going into foundation work and windowsills of History of the Navesink Light Sta- buildings (figs. 13, 14, 15). tion; Twin Lights Historical Society, Presently, there are no operat- http://www.twin-lights.org, web- ing brownstone quarries in New site accessed November, 2011. Jersey. The last one ceased activ- Figure 16. Repaired brownstone. (Z. ity in the 1930’s (Zdepski, 2002). Allen-Lafayette, 2006). Yolton, James, Brownstone After approximately two hundred Industry of New Jersey, Professor years of popularity, the brownstone References Emeritus of Geology, Upsala Col- era in New Jersey was over, but its lege, ca. 1960. products remain visible today. Backes, William J., 1929, A history of Trenton 1679-1929, Two Hun- Zdepski, J. Mark, 2002, The Brownstone Maintenance, dred Fifty Years of a Notable Town Brownstone Quarrying Industry Care and Preservation with Links in Four Centuries: The in New Jersey, presented to the Trenton Historical Society. Princeton Society for Industrial Archaeology, Though the period of quarrying University Press, http://www.tren- Roebling Chapter, 22nd Annual and building with brownstone in tonhistory.org/1929history.html, Drew Symposium, Drew Univer- New Jersey has ended, the need for website accessed November, 2011. sity, November 2, 2002. maintenance and repairs to brown- stone buildings will always be part Guinness, Alison C., 2002, The STATE OF NEW JERSEY of the brownstone legacy. Almost Portland Brownstone Quarries, Chris Christie, Governor as soon as the sandstone became The Chronicle of the Early Ameri- Department of Environmental Protection prominent as a building material, it can Industries Association Inc., 21 Bob Martin, Commissioner became known for its tendency to pages. Water Resource Management decay. Its layered composition and Michele Siekerka, Assistant Commissioner high porosity made it especially Lockwood, Charles, 1972, Bricks New Jersey Geological and Water Survey susceptible to deterioration by the & Brownstone, The New York Row Karl Muessig, State Geologist JDEP N L GEO OGI Y C action of water, salts, freeze-thaw House, 1783-1929 An Architec- E A S L R S E U J R cycling, and air pollutants. tural and Social History: McGraw- V

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E Y In some cases the architects Hill Book Company. N designing brownstone buildings had the stone placed with the bed- New Jersey Geological Survey, 18 3 5 ding vertical or on edge for eco- Annual Report of the State Geolo- By Ted Pallis nomic reasons and a better finished gist for the Year 1908, Trenton, 2012 Comments or requests for information are welcome. look. This design made it easier for New Jersey. Mac Crellish & Quig- Write: NJGWS, P.O. Box 420, Mail Code: 29-01, water to penetrate cracks and work ley, State Printers, 1909. Trenton, NJ 08625 its way into the rock, eventually Phone: 609-292-2576, Fax: 609-633-1004 Visit the NJGWS web site @ www.njgeology.org causing parts of the outer layer to New Jersey Historic Trust, St. This information circular is available upon written request break off due to frost action (Annual Mary’s Roman Catholic Church: or by downloading a copy from the NJGWS web site.