Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. I, Part 31

Author:
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association
Number of Pages: 1294

USA > Georgia > Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. I > Part 31

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The Cherokee quarry, 80x90 feet at the surface and forty feet deep, is near the Creole quarries. The marble here, however, is of a more uniform color than the Creole. Otherwise it is quite similar.

A few hundred yards east of the Cherokee quarry and near the creek, are the Etowah quarries, one of which has been extensively worked while the other has only recently been opened. In structure and texture the stone is much like the Creole, but it contains more impurities, finely distributed iron oxide in it giving it a pink or flesh color, while graphite, hornblende and a black mica produce a more or less banded appearance, with dark or light shades of gray. This marble is in great demand for interior decoration, and the company finds it difficult to meet the demand. Wainscoting, tiling, furniture and other ornamental subjects are worked up from this beautiful material. Fine examples of this marble are to be seen in the wainscoting of the first floor of the state capitol.

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A branch railroad, owned and operated by the Georgia Marble company, con- neots its quarries with the main line of the Marietta & North Georgia railroad. The company's plant, including its mills, is well supplied with the latest improved machinery, all of which is kept in an excellent state of repair by a well-equipped machine shop. The mills are among the largest, as well as the most completely furnished in the country, from 150 to 200 hands being regularly employed at the works.

At Nelson, the first station south of Tate, marble outcrops near a spring located 200 yards south of the depot. A few outcroppings whose weathered surfaces re- semble in general appearance the light-colored and fine-grained marbles in Long- swamp valley, constitute the exposure of this property, on which some prospecting has been done. The quantity and quality of the stone, however, have not been sufficiently promising to justify the opening of a quarry.

CHEROKEE COUNTY.

Cherokee county, while long known to contain more or less marble, has never as yet become an active producer. The marbles in this county constitute the southern end of the belt entering the state in Fannin county, but the exposures are not so extensive nor so continuous as in the other counties. Here the dark and rather impure marble first noticed in Pickens and Gilmer counties is quite well developed, forming at places beds of considerable thickness. A limited amount of prospecting has been done at a number of localities in the county, though no regular quarries have been opened. The so-called green marble which has been worked near Holly Spring as an ornamental stone, is serpentine. Beautiful slabs of this have been gotten out. The stratum of dark-colored marbles makes its first appearance in Cherokee county, at the bridge on the road leading to Dawson- ville, four miles northeast of Ball Ground, forming a series of outcroppings about ten miles long and extending in a southwestern direction by way of Ball Ground to within a short distance of Canton, where it seems to gradually thin out. It is exposed on both sides of the road west of the creek and has been used in con- structing the piers of the bridge mentioned above. Some of the layers are very impure, forming micaceous sandstones, cemented with calcium carbonate and weather into a porous, sandy mass. Other layers have few impurities, are of a light-gray color and weather more evenly. This stone is hardly suited to building and ornamental purposes on account of the too great lamination and its many im- purities.

The dark-colored marble again makes its appearance on J. Holbert's property, southwest of the bridge, on the right bank of Longswamp creek, being ex- posed at a number of places along the creek and in the field near Mr. Holbert's house. The stratum attains a thickness here of at least 100 feet. No prospecting of any consequence has been done on this property, and the quantity and quality of the stone can only be surmised from its natural exposures. In these the stone varies considerably both in structure and composition, in some places being more or less slaty in structure on account of the quantity of mica contained, while at other points it is solid and comparatively free from mica and other impurities. While the color is usually dark-gray, yet a light-gray and black are also found. The latter seems well suited for tiling, but on account of impurities it does not weather evenly.

A coarse-grained, white marble has been recently discovered on lot 296, fourth district, second section, on the opposite side of the creek from the Holbert property,

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being exposed at only one place in a small stream near the point where it empties into the creek. The stone here resembles the marble in the vicinity of the Georgia marble quarries, and it is probable that it belongs to the same stratun. Nothing is known of the extent of the deposit, as little prospecting has been done on the property. Along the road between the Holbert property and Ball Ground, the dark-colored marble is exposed in a number of places, showing up especially well at Farmer's Spring, the general character of the stone being about the same as that at other exposures. An exposure of marble occurs on Mrs. Stern's property, near the road leading to Canton, three-quarters of a mile south of Ball Ground, and at a number of places along a small branch, being usually unevenly weathered, due to mica and other impurities, more or less abundant in the stone. It is dark- gray or black in color and is fine-grained and compact, admitting of a fair polish. It, however, has a more laminated structure. Other outcroppings belonging to the same stratum may be seen at a number of places along the road leading to Canton. Six miles northeast of Canton, near Mabel station, is quite an extensive deposit of marble, outcropping in two small streams on property owned by G. W. Crain. The marble is exposed for more than 100 yards by one of these streams, running at almost right angles to the strike of the marble. The total thickness of the deposit at this point must be at least 120 feet. In color it is dark-gray or black, the colors sometimes alternating with each other, giving a banded appear- ance to the marble. Mica and magnetite with an occasional crystal of pyrite, the general impurities of the stone, frequently become so abundant along certain lines as to cause a slate-like cleavage and irregular weathered surfaces. The portions of stone which are more solid admit of a fair polish and seem well suited for tiling, etc. About two miles west of Canton, on the Chattahoochee Mining company's property, is another exposure on this line of outcropping, where the stone is used for making lime. The deposit is here very greatly reduced in thickness and has no economic importance as a building-stone.

Two miles west of Ball Ground, on Sharp Mountain creek, is a second line of marble outcroppings, which appears to be a part of the same stratum which has just been described. This extends in a southwesterly direction, parallel with the first line of outcropping, as far south as Hickory Log creek, where it has been prospected on the property of P. W. Stafford, the marble found being much like that found in the vicinity of Ball Ground, but of a much whiter color.

On L. E. Cowart's property, three miles southeast of Ball Ground, an ex- posure occurs along a small branch, near Sharp Mountain creek, which in texture and color resembles very closely that occurring in Longswamp valley. It prob- ably belongs to the same stratum. It is rather coarsely granular and white or light-gray in color, banded with black, a flesh color much like the Etowah also occurring, but not appearing to be very abundant. The outcropping is so limited that definite information as to extent and general soundness of the deposit cannot be had. Surface indications, however, are favorable and would seem to justify a limited outlay of money in prospecting. Marble outcrops on the lot owned by T. J. Carpenter, on Ragsdale creek, six miles northwest of Canton. The stone is quite similar to the Cowart marble and evidently belongs to the same stratum. The deposit is not thick and is usually unsound.

About eight miles northwest of Canton quite an extensive outcropping of marble occurs on property owned by J. M. White, at the junction of Lost Town and Shoal creeks, exposed for fully a quarter of a mile along the left bank of Lost Town creek, in places forming bluffs some ten or twelve feet high. The marble occurring here is generally sound, though it contains fine sand. It is of a light-

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gray or pale-blue color. Judging from the exposure and the top of the deposit the stratum must be nearly eighty feet thick.

THE SEMI-CRYSTALLINE MARBLES OF NORTHWEST GEORGIA.

In a number of counties within the Paleozoic area in northwest Georgia limestones occur which are partly crystalline in character. They are found heavy bedded, and admit of a good polish. At a few places, in the counties of Murray, Whitfield and Floyd, this stone may become of importance for ornamental purposes.

MURRAY COUNTY.

At the base of Cedar ridge, five miles west of Spring Place, in this county, a great deal of work has been done in opening a quarry in the so-called black marble, but no marketable stone of any consequence has been shipped. The stone is a jet black carbonaceous limestone, belonging to the Oostanaula shales, and occurring in beds from six inches to two feet in thickness. There is little of it of crystalline structure, but the stone admits of a fair polish. Exposed to the atmosphere for any length of time it undergoes a change of color, due, evidently, to some change in the carbonaceous material. This, together with its occurrence in thin beds, is a serious drawback to its ever becoming important as an ornamental stone.

WHITFIELD COUNTY.

In the northwestern corner of this county is a narrow belt of dark chocolate and grayish marbles, highly fossiliferous, entering the county from Tennessee, about one mile east of Red Clay, and extending nearly parallel with the Southern railway for about ten miles. A good exposure of it occurs one mile east of Varnell's station, on the Eslinger farm. This marble belongs to the stratum which traverses the valley of east Tennessee, and which is so extensively worked in the vicinity of Knoxville. The quality of the stone is quite variable, and in color it is generally of a dark chocolate, variegated with white. There also occurs, in more or less abundance, a light gray and a beautiful pink. These various colors are frequently found at the same place, occupying different layers in the same stratum, or they blend into each other, so that almost any shade or color, from a dark chocolate to a light gray, may be secured. The light gray, which is always the most completely crystallized, is generally traversed by dark irregular lines, which give variety to an otherwise monotonous light gray sur- face. The exposures are mostly in the form of bowlders, or large disconnected masses, which appear to be due to the surface weathering of thick layers of marble, with a somewhat jointed structure. Since this peculiar mode of weather- ing has been caused by surface waters, carrying carbon dioxide in solution, we may reasonably suppose that the bowlders and disconnected masses unite and form continuous beds at no great depth. These beds, making up the stratum of marble, as shown by the outcroppings, are from two to eight feet in thickness. It is difficult to determine the exact thickness of the marble deposit at any point along the belt, on account of the overburden of earth and the limited outcrops. However, one would be safe in putting the minimum thickness at from thirty to forty feet. On the Haskin farm, one mile southeast of Red Clay, it probably attains more than twice this thickness, but it is not all salable stone.

The chemical and physical properties, together with the smooth surface of the stone, after being exposed for years in its natural bed, are conclusive proofs

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that the marble is well suited for building and ornamental purposes. The dark chocolate variety contains less calcium carbonate than the other, and its coloring matter is due to iron sesquioxide, in a rather coarsely divided condition. This variety contains numerous fossils, and is only partly crystalline. Owing to its beautiful color and brilliancy when polished, it is well adapted for furniture and interior decoration. The marble was worked many years ago, to a limited extent, on the Eslinger farm for tombstones, some of which are still to be seen in the church yards of the vicinity, in a fair state of preservation. At other places along the line of outcropping where the marble becomes thin bedded and easily quarried, it has been used locally for making chimneys, foundations for buildings, etc. The marble belt of this county is quite favorably located for the shipment of stone, as branch lines can be easily constructed from the main line of the Southern railway, along the numerous small streams which cut their way through the ridges, separating the marble belt from the railroad. Some of these streams will afford considerable water-power, which can be used in operating quarry machinery.

FLOYD COUNTY ..

Near Six-Mile station, south of Rome, a considerable amount of money was invested a few years ago in an attempt to develop the black semi-crystalline limestone which belongs to the same formation as that at the base of Cedar ridge in Murray county. The stone found here, however, seems to have been much shattered and broken up by some great dynamic force, and to again have been united by white veins of calcite, which penetrated the stone in every direction, which give it a pleasing effect when polished. A branch road, nearly two miles in length, was graded from this quarry to the main line of the Southern railway, and quarrying machinery was purchased and put in operation; but the works were finally abandoned, before any stone was shipped, the principal trouble being due to its unsound condition and its variable physical structure.

MARBLE DRESSING WORKS.

In addition to the mills at the several quarries described, three companies are doing an extensive business in dressing marble for the market. They operate no quarries, but depend for material nearly altogether on the products of the Georgia quarries. One of these is the Kennesaw Marble company, which was organized in the latter part of 1891 with a capital of $72,000. Its plant was erected at the junction of the Western & Atlantic and Marietta & North Georgia railroads, just outside the city of Marietta. Another is the Blue Ridge Marble company, which was organized in 1886, with a capital of $100,000, and whose plant is located at Nelson, Pickens Co., on the Marietta & North Georgia railroad; while the third is the firm of George B. Sickles & Company, located within a few hundred yards of the Georgia Marble company's works near Tate. This firm was organized in 1886, with a capital of $10,000, but since then its plant has been greatly enlarged, in order to supply a rapidly increasing trade. All three of these companies are supplied with excellent mills, fitted up with all the best and latest improved machinery for dressing marble. They turn out all kinds of interior decorative work, such as tiles, wainscoting, pillars, etc., and columns, monuments, and other outside objects.

Physical Tests .- The microscope has been recently used in studying the struc- ture of the marbles of Georgia, with interesting results, showing the most minute impurities, which might give rise to uneven weathering or to rapid disintegration,

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and the crystalline structure, whether it be pheno-crystalline or crypto-crystalline. In the recent investigation of the marbles of the state by the geological survey of Georgia, microscopic sections were made, some of which showed the grains of calcite to be very small and compact, besides showing whatever mica or magnetite or other impurities were in the stone. Other specimens showed the individual grains to be moderately fine-grained, with inclusions of mica, carbon, etc .; while some others showed the crystalline grains to be of considerable size. It is interesting to note that the pink marble from the Etowah quarries entirely lost its color, so finely distributed was the iron sesquioxide which gave it color.

Crushing Tests .- In the crushing tests one-inch tubes were used, or as near that size as were to be had. All the cubes showed very high resisting power, especially so in the cases of the Creole and Etowah marbles, from the Georgia company's quarries. A cube of the Kennesaw'marble showed a compressive strength of 11,400 pounds per square inch; a cube of the Creole marbles, a compressive strength of 13,900 pounds per square inch; a cube of the Etowah marble, 13,200 pounds per square inch; and a cube of the Southern marble, II,300 pounds per square inch. The cubes which burst formed a double cone, whose bases were the original compressed faces of the cube, thus showing the specimens to be sound, and that the weight was distributed equally over the entire surface.

Absorption Tests .- The absorption tests were made by drying the cubes for twenty-four hours, and afterward immersing them in water for seventy-two hours. The approximate percentages of absorption are:

Kennesaw .008

Creole 004

Etowah .005

Southern, No. I. .006

Southern, No. 2.

.008

CLAYS.

Materials suitable for brick are to be found in almost all parts of the state, and need not here be amplified. A fine pottery clay occurs in large beds in the counties immediately south of the great belt of crystalline rocks. This clay is worked at Stevens' pottery, in Baldwin county, for fire-brick and tile, sewer pipes, flower pots, jugs, and other earthenware, it being white, quite soft and free from grit and other impurities. It was said by the proprietors of the Stevens' pottery that their clay- bed covered many acres of land, varying in thickness from four to ten feet. They also have one bed of pure fire-clay and two of pipe-clay, one of latter having the consistency of putty, while the other is not so tenacious. A belt of clays runs from Augusta, southwest through Richmond, Columbia, McDuffie, Warren, Glas- cock, Hancock, Baldwin, Wilkinson, Jones, Twiggs and Bibb counties; while another, still larger, beginning south of this in Washington county, and running in the same direction parallel with the first, passes through Wilkinson, Twiggs, Houston, Dooley, Macon, Schley, Sumter, Webster, Terrell, Randolph, Quitman and Clay. A third belt, smaller than either of these, begins in Polk county, and, passing through Tatnall and Appling, ends in Coffee county. By far the largest proportion of clays are mixtures of the several mineral species; but deposits of halloysite, kaolin, newtonite, etc., are occasionally found, especially kaolin, which is at times found in large beds. Kaolin is generally associated with large mica crystals, and masses of quartz in decomposed granitoid rocks, the kaolin resulting

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from the decomposition of feldspar. This mineral occurs in a number of localities in the central and northern parts of the state, at times snow-white and free from impurities. Halloysite, another clay species, has been found in the Devonian. formations of Dade, Chattooga and Whitfield counties. This clay has been tested for pottery purposes with excellent results, and has been shipped from Dade county and used in the manufacture of alum, for which it seems especially adapted. An analysis of halloysite from Dade county, gave the following:

Silica 40.4

Alumina 37.8

Magnesia 0.5

Water

21.8

100.5

In northwestern Georgia there are several types of clay: First, the kaolin- like. clays; second, the clays derived from the decomposition of limestones and calcareous shales; third, those formed from the disintegration of shales; fourth, alluvial deposits. The kaolin type, in the Paleozoic group, occurs as "horses," or in sheets or pockets in the residual earths, derived from the decomposition of the Knox dolomite and Fort Payne chert series. They are at time pure white, stained occasionally by iron oxides; or this material may color the mass in streaks. In the cherty remains of other portions of the Knox dolomite, white siliceous, chalky clay occurs near Cave Spring and in Lookout valley in the Fort Payne chert. From this siliceous matter, the white clay could be mechan- ically separated, if the demand were great enough to warrant the expense. Halloysite occurs under similar conditions in the Fort Payne chert, and can be used for the manufacture of fine porcelain.

GRANITE.

Valuable deposits of granite and gneiss are to be found covering large areas in the state, and the quarrying industry in granite is probably one of the best-paying economic mineral industries in the state. Small areas are found in Rabun, Habersham, Troup, Meriwether, Harris, Muscogee, Talbot, Taylor and Crawford counties, while larger areas lie in Douglas, Campbell, Coweta, Heard, Elbert, Ogle- thorpe, Lincoln, Wilkes, Taliaferro, Greene, Hancock, Putnam, Columbia, Rich- mond, McDuffie, Warren, Glascock, Baldwin, Jones and Bibb counties. A very large area, the largest, in fact, in the state, lies in Jackson, Walton, Gwinnett, DeKalb, Rockdale, Newton, Henry, Butts, Clayton, Campbell, Fayette, Spalding, Pike and Monroe counties. It is said that the deposits of granite in Baldwin county are very fine and very extensive. The stone is bluish-gray and compact. At present, however, no quarrying is being done in this deposit. A grade of granite, of excellent character as a building material, is found near the Chatta- hoochee river, along its course across the state. This appears at intervals in the northeastern part of the state, and separates it from the large area south of Atlanta. This is from fine to medium-grained feldspathic granite, specked with black mica. It is worked at Stone mountain, one of the best known deposits of Georgia granite, and at Lithonia, by Messrs. Venable Brothers, of Atlanta; and the stone is used, in large slabs, for side-walks in cities; as Belgian blocks for road- paving in city streets, and for buildings. There is a large demand for this stone, and Messrs. Venable Brothers are kept constantly busy, in order to supply the

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demand. The granite at Lithonia is a continuation of the formation at Stone moun- tain, though lying at a lower level, and, having, perhaps, a greater proportion of hornblende and feldspar, which add to its value for street-paving purposes. There are at this place 500 acres, nearly all granite, a supply sufficient to meet any demand that may arise for centuries to come. The extent of the deposit is practically inexhaustible. The Stone mountain deposit is said to be the largest deposit of merchantable granite in the world. There are some 2,200 acres, of which 563 acres are granite, a solid granite mountain, measuring seven miles in circumference at its base, and containing, as estimated by competent engineers, 7,543,750,950 cubic feet of exposed granite above the level of the plain. The remaining acreage, at this point, is in part a virgin forest, and partly farming lands, affording ample space for any additional facilities for carrying on the extensive business, which is being carried on there. The Stone mountain quarries can be worked to a total capacity of 25,000 paving blocks per day, while those at Lithonia will yield 30,000 per day. The yield at Stone mountain can be increased to any desired output; but the Lithonia quarries are limited to a maximum of 40,000 or 50,000 blocks per day. The granite found in these two properties is of a light-gray color, of uniform grain and free from lamination. It is well adapted to all structural and street work. To facilitate the transportation of the output of the quarries, the proprietors own and operate two locomotives and fourteen miles of railway, besides numerous plants, consisting of boilers, engines, steam-drills and other machinery and appli- ances, the equal of any large quarrying outfit in the world. This company has furnished 1,700,000 square yards, laid in different cities in the north and south. Besides the immense shipment of granite blocks from the quarries at Lithonia and Stone mountain, curbing and cross-walking have been shipped during the same time, making in the aggregate near 100 square miles of dressed stone. Of this amount, Atlanta has used 436,490 feet. A number of buildings in Atlanta have been erected, in part, or whole, of this stone. Much of it presents a unique appear- ance, the layers of mica in it being so disturbed and distorted as to make very beautiful and pleasing effects, not in any way, however, interfering with the solidity of the stone. This variety comes from Lithonia.

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Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. I, Part 31

Author: Publication date: 1859 Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association Number of Pages: 1294

Author:
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association
Number of Pages: 1294