Medina: a town in western New York, about
--- miles from Buffalo. Quarries are no longer operational.
Sandstone:
a sedimentary rock formed by the consolidation and compaction of sand and
held together by a natural cement, such as silica.
Types:
- Red
- Grimsby sandstone
- White
- Whirlpool sandstone. Relatively little and below the Grimsby
Characteristics:
- Although harder than
Onondaga limestone limestone, it's easier to work with it.
- Large sheets can be
quarried.
- Feels gritty to the
touch.
Sources:
- Found in the Niagara
Escarpment (e.g. Art Park).
- In the Buffalo area,
there is sandstone present under the limestone, but it's usually too
deep to be quarried.
- It is the most drilled
subsurface in Erie, Cattaraugus, and Chautauqua counties because of
deposits of natural gas in the rock.
Uses:
- Red Grimsby: For
curbstones in Buffalo until recently. The Erie canal was used to
transport the sandstone from Medina. (Buffalo's newer curbstones are
made of granite.)
- Red and white: In parts
of the west side, including the Delaware Preservation District, there
are some Medina sandstone sidewalks.
- Buildings: Buffalo
Psychiatric Center by H. H. Richardson. and a number of churches along
Delaware and Richmond that imitated Richardson's Romanesque style
- Most houses along Route
104 in Niagara County and Orleans County are of Medina sandstone.
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