Mineral Industries and Geology of Certain Areas - Vermont Agency ...

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Ah 40 REPORT OF THE VERMONT STATE GEOLOGIST. of twenty rods. At the highest portion it is about two hundred and fifty feet above the main road which passes Mr. Somerville's house. The outcrop occurs on the farm of Mr. Somerville and that of Mr. Bruce, which adjoins it on the south. There is some talcose schist in the ledge, but by far the greater part is asbestos-bearing serpentine. Talc is also found on both farms, and on the Bruce property there is a bed of very good steatite or soapstone. BUILDING AND ORNAMENTAL STONE. MARBLE.—As is well known, the great mineral industries of Vermont are found in the quarries. Although one of the smallest of the States, Vermont is second only to Pennsylvania in the value of rock products sold. According to the latest returns, the total value of the btiilding and ornamental stone sold in \ermont during 1901 amounted to five and a half millions of (lollars and the amount for the present year will undoubtedly be illore. Vermont marble, granite and slate are sold not only in America, but are sent to the most distant parts of the world, so that there is probably not a civilized country in which Ver - mont stone can not be found. From the earliest days in the settlement of the country Ver - mont has been pre-eminent for the quantity, quality and beauty of the marble produced from the ledges of the State, and the fame of \ermont marble is now greater than ever. To meet the growing clenand new companies have been formed of late, and the future will undoubtedly be greater than the past. At llresent not less than $8,000,000 in capital is invested in the marble business in Vermont. Over 3,000 men are in the employ of the companies, and the sales for 1901 were $2,753,583, and as several large companies have not yet begun to put marble Oil the nlarket, but will do so soon, the sales for 1902 will probably be not less than $3,000,000. Some fourteen or fifteen States are now producing and selling marble, but none of tllem can approach Vermont in tile REPORT OF THE VERMONT STATE GEOLOGIST. 41 quality of the product, so that more than five-sixths of the filler grades of marble, such as is alone suitable for ornamental and. monumental work, comes from this little State. Since the account of the marble industry given in the last report was published, there has been a marked increase in the production and sale of marble, and several new companies have been formed, largely by the consolidation of those already existing. It is unnecessary to say much concerning a companY so long known and so highly esteemed as the \errnont Marble Cornpanv. This company, which is probably the largest marble concern in the world, has increased its business and acquired new property. Early in 1901 a new and strong company with a capital of known as the Rutland-Florence Marble Company, $1 1 000,000, was formed. This new company bought the quarries and property of the True Blue, Beldens Falls and several other con panics. An article in the Rutland Herald thus describes the property: It includes 5oo acres at \\hipple Hollow, which was the original True Blue property, and property at Florence, in Pittsford, consisting of the Central Vermont quarry, the Tennien farm, the Newbury estate and what is known as the Hall lot, making a total of 800 acres, running along a ledge of marbleabout a mile and a quarter long. This notably rich marble deposit lies in the west part of the town of Pittsford, and is connected with the Florence station on the Rutland railroad by a branch spur two miles long. The transfer, which was made at the Bardwell house last evening, also carries with it the Corona marble mill at Brandon. "The marble deposit at Florence, we are informed by experts, contains about a dozen varieties of marble well known to the trade, runnillg from deeply clouded stone to pure statuary marble. It is thought by those who have exaniined the property that it contains the largest bed of absolutely white marble that has yet been discovered in this country. Its tension and
42 REPORT OF THE VERMONT STATE GEOLOGIST. toughness are much above that of the Italian marble, and it will thus yield itself more completely to the purposes of sculpture and decoration. "The Beldens Falls property, which changed hands at the sale, comprises 300 acres of marble land in the town of Pittsford, with three quarries, a mile and a quarter of railway, several farms and a marble mill at Beldens Falls. The marble land extends from the north line of the True Blue property nearly to the Hollister quarry. The railway, in connection with the True Blue track, makes a line two and one-half miles long, commencing at the Rutland railroad main line and extending back westerly into the hills to what is known as the Florentine quarry. The marble found on the property is blue, white and variegated. The two purchases make a total of 1,200 acres of marble land now in the hands of Vermont's new company, the Rutland- Florence. In order to understand the significance of this, the largest series of purchases of marble deposits in Vermont for many years, it will help the reader to understand the geology of the calcareous formations in these parts. There is a ' hog back,' or low range of hills, beginning south of the highway leading from Rutland to West Rutland. This hog back extends about eight miles north to the town of Pittsford. This range of hills contains about all of the commercially valuable monumental stone produced in Vermont, except the outcropping owned by the Brandon Italian Company in the town of Brandon. On the southwest side of the hog hack is the famous ' Rutland vein,' located in West Rutland. This vein is about a third of a mile long. Two miles north at the base of a range of hills are found the Esperanza and True Blue outcroppings. No other outcropping of marble has been found on this range until we reach the small opening made by the late John N. Baxter. From this point going north it is evident that the 'West Rutland vein ' again appears at the surface for about two miles in Pittsford, where the recent purchases were made. Returning to the south end of this range of hills we go REPORT OF THE VERMONT STATE GEOLOGIST. 43 nortb about three miles before any marble of consequence is exposed. There we find the Columbian Marble Quarrying Company's outcropping, which is the extreme southern exposure of what is now, known in Pittsford as the ' Florence vein.' Perhaps a hundred rods to the north of the ColunThian exposure and slightly to the east, geologically, the so-called Sutherland Falls vein ' makes its appearance, which vein has been worked for some 70 years. A short distance north of these quarries practically all evidence of marble is obliterated, except here and there where irregular exposures occur. Continuing north one or more miles all three of these famous veins appear to have converged to the extent that all are found within a distance of a comparatively few feet from outside to outside, and continue side by side for at least two miles to the Hollister quarry, near the Florence railroad station. At West Rutland the ' Rutland vein ' inclines, on an average, about at an angle of 40 degrees to the east. Across the hill, some three miles away, the Columbian quarry strata inclines to the east, while a few miles north the Sutherland Falls quarry inclines to the west. But in Pittsforcl the entire conThination of veins stands absolutely vertical, as is evidenced by the Hollister quarry, which is on the ' Florence vein,' and has been worked to a depth of 200 feet. The properties combined by the Rutland-Florence Company cover practically all of this two miles of vertical strata, and include the Florentine quarry, which corresponds to the Esperanza and True Blue properties in West Rutland, lying west of the ' Rutland vein.' Other marble companies are also increasing their facilities for supplying the demands of the trade. The Brandon Italian Company, with quarries at Branclon, have put up and are operating large mills at Middlehury, where they have the waterpower of Otter creek. At Dorset the Norcross and West Cornpan) have bought and put into extensive operation one of the formerly worked but 'ong idle quarries. Mr. S. H. West writes of this that " The quarry we are now operating is about five hundred feet in length by one hundred in width and twentylive feet in depth. We are working ten nelers chan afl (i Six
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