History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. I, Part 4

Author: Shaw, William H
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: [United States :]
Number of Pages: 840

USA > New Jersey > Essex County > History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. I > Part 4
USA > New Jersey > Hudson County > History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. I > Part 4

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From the Notch Road southward, the trap boundary follows the same general direction as the mountains; crosses the county line, the crest forming the bound- ary line between Caldwell and Montclair townships, to the east of Verona Village, to the water shed of the Verona Valley, near the upper side of Llewellyn Park, west of Eagle Rock; thence down the valley of the west branch of Rahway River as far as the old South Orange Road. Approaching the stream, it at length crosses it, and intersects the Morris and Essex branch of the D. L. & W. R. R., about three quarters of a mile west of Millburn Village. Along the line just mentioned, drift knolls and beds rest upon the lower portions of the trap slope ; near the crest of the main and subordinate ridges the rock is frequently seen. Nearer Millburn the slope is less obscured by drift. although west and southwest of the village, it hides all rocks.

In the east face of the Watchung or Orange Moun- tains, (as it is often called) in West Orange Township. trap-rock is quarried extensively for road material, by George Spottiswoode, John t)'Rourke and General

I From Cook's Geology of the State, 1868.

FREESTONE AND SANDSTONE QUARRIES IN ESSEX COUNTY

John G. Wright. These three quarries have each a cracker for breaking up the stone, and they supply a large amount annually for the construction of Telford roads ju all the Oranges, Montclair, Bloomfield, and other localities.

Second Mountain .- As in the case of the First Mountain, the trap-rocks occupy the inner erest and inner slope of this range, while the shale and sand- stone form the base on which they rest. The latter rocks occupy the gentler slope from the bottom of the valley to the base of the trap, which is from one hundred to two hundred feet below the top of the range. While the inclination of the sandstone slope is about 5°, that of the trap above it is about 20°, and in some places it is almost vertical, although there are not such mural walls here as the Palisades or in the First Mountain. This line of demarcation between the steep and gentle slopes almost invariably marks the respective limits of the two rocks.

The boundary line between them is therefore of the same general course as that of the mountain itself, and also parallel throughout with the First Mountain. The prolongation of the range, at each extremity be- yond the ends of the outer range, makes this moun- tain longer than the other by five miles.

This mountain continues the same general course as the First, and runs close to the MI. & E. branch of the D. L. & W. R. R., and erosses it near the Chatham and Millburn Road. The euts on the Morris and Essex Railroad show some trap that is rarely seen else- where. West of Millburn this boundary is obscured by the hills of drift that here abound, and until the old South Orange Road is reached, there is nothing de- eisive to indicate its location. It erosses this road a little west of the Hollow Road, and thence on a north- rast course passes west of Verona Village in Caldwell township, and crosses the Pompton Turnpike to Little Falls. So far the Second Mountain presents a great deal of uniformity-the trap crest and steep slope, and below the gentler descent to the valley. The latter is covered with earth, gravel and boulders to such an extent that the sandstone and shale can be seen at only a few points on the old South Orange Road, and at a couple of quarries out on the Centre- ville Road. At Verona the valley is quite broad, and the trap outerop is half a mile west of the village.

The accurate delineation of the inner border of this trap range is made very difficult by the unusually large amount of drift which nearly everywhere re- poses upon the slope. Throughout a portion of the range, its structure is apparently complicated by one or more subordinate ridges, quite similar to the main or outer one. There can scarcely be a doubt that the whole mass is one unbroken body of trap-rock. The location of this inner boundary has been deter- mined by the surface configuration wherever the rocks could not be seen in place. With these principles for guidance, the boundary through Essex County is as follows. From the Passaic, the line ruus sonth-

southwest, near Franklin, Westville, Livingston, west of Summit, and then in a southwest direction, eust of New Providence to the Union t'ounty line. For three miles south of the Mount Pleasant Turnpike. Canon Brook coincides with the assumed trap limit. North of this, to the county line, the border of the lowlands is put down as its extent towards the west. While the rock shows itself frequently near the top of the mountain, it is seen but at a very few point- along this described line. Deep ravines and wells disclose no fast rocks, showing that the foot of this slope is completely hidden by the enormous beds of northwestern drift.

CHAPTER VI.

FREESTONE AND SANDSTONE QUARRIES IN ENEX COUNTY.1

QUARRIES were opened in Essex County as early as 1700, and probably at an earlier date, and many of the substantial old farm-houses built of these reddish sandstone long before the time to which the memory of any one living runneth back, are still standing, and to all appearances are good for another two hun- dred years, thus testing the durability of this kind of stone for building purposes. It was used for grave- stones and monuments during the early settlement of Newark, and gravestones set then are still perfeet.

Quarries for marketing stone are worked at Belle- ville, (or in the bouuds of Franklin Township), Newark and Orange.

Belleville Quarries .- The so-called Belleville quar- ries, are located in what is now Franklin Township. on the west bank of the Passaie River, and about a quarter of a mile east from Avondale Station on the Newark and Patterson Railroad. The first opening made here for building stone was nearly or quite a century and a half ago, but only since 1877 have these quarries been vigorously worked. The production has been greatly increased since 1879, and at present there are between three hundred and fifty and four hundred men employed in the quarries and adjoining yards dressing stone. "Cook's Geological Report for 1881 " says, "There are four separate parties at work, although but three distinct quarries, as Robison's and Philips' are practically one. The workings move in a general westward direction, extending from within a few rods of the river road into the gently rising ridge. All of them descend below the tide level of the river. The overlying earth is glacial drift, containing much red sandstone, and in places imbedded sands and gravels. The strata of rock near the surface are generally much broken up. and yield small-sized stone only ; as they are followed

From Prof. C. H. Link's limits of New Jersey

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

down the beds become more solid and of better quality. The descent or dip of the strata is towards the northwest, and at an angle of 10° to 12º. One of the most interesting geological features is a fault, which can be traced across Joyce's, Robison's and Philips' quarries. It is beautifully exposed in Rob- i-on's, where the displacement amounts to five feet, and its dip is from 65° to 70° westerly. Its general course is North and South, or, more accurately, South 3º East (magnetic). The west side appears to have slipped down, as the corresponding beds on either side of it would indicate."

In working, all of these quarries move with the dip, hence the stone have to be raised up out of their beds, as there is no advantage of gravity. The stones, after being quarried, are hauled by teams to wharves on the river, whence they are loaded and shipped by boats to points of destination. Blocks of great size are quarried, and larger than can be conveniently handled. The United States census schedule returns from these quarries reported an aggregate product of 45,000 cubic yards, valued at $225,000, for the last half of 1879 and first half of 1880. The product for 1×43-4 no doubt exceeds this total very considerably. The "Belleville stone" command a wide market and bring good price -. The light colored, grayish stone sell at one dollar per cubic foot, while the fine grained, reddish stone, suitable for rubbing, bring one dollar and fifty cents per foot. The new Mills building corner of Broad street and Exchange place, New York City, absorbed a large amount of stone quarried here during the years 1880 and '81.

JOYCE'S QUARRY .- Beginning at the south is that of William J. Joyce, the excavated area of whose quarry is over two acres, and has an average depth of over sixty feet. This quarry has been worked rather more into the hill or ridge than the others, and, at the present heading, is about ninety feet deep. The drift earth at the southwest side includes a number of thin layers of sand and gravel imbedded in the glacial unsorted mass. The phenomena of glacier action are plain in the glaciated ledges of sandstone, the striated and large boulders and the heterogeneous mixture of earth, pebbles and boulders. The thick- ness of this drift earth is, at most, twenty feet. On the west side there are about thirty feet of red, fine grained sandstone strata, which furnish considerable stone for foundations, walls, etc. As followed down they will, no doubt, become more solid and improve in quality. Under them there is a grayish sandstone in thiek beds, and, at the bottom, a finer-grained red and reddish-colored stone is obtained, which can be rubbed and polished. The joints in this quarry run vertically, west and north. As the beds are very thick, stone of the largest size required can be quar- ried here. Blocks containing one thousand cubic feet have been broken out. Three steam derricks are used and a steam pump, all worked by one fifty- horse power engiue. Stone from this quarry can be

seen in Fort Lafayette, New York harbor ; Duncan & Sherman's banking house, New York ; Garden City Cathedral, and in many other like places.

ROBISON'S QUARRY.1-The quarry of J. B. I. Robison is three hundred feet north of Joyce's, and constitutes, with the Philips' quarry, one opening which is over five hundred feet square in its extreme dimensions. The average depth is fifty feet, and the dip of the beds is 11º north, 45° west, and there is a well marked system of joints running vertical, south 85° west, while the other is not continuous through- out. The stripping varies considerably in the thick- ness; on the south side the beds are solid, quite to the drift, whereas, at the west, they are more broken up. Excepting one layer, which is three feet thiek, there is no good building stone to be had in the sixty feet from the surface down. Under it, however, there are twenty feet of thick-bedded stone, the lower half of which is fine-grained and of superior quality for rub- bing, and brings a high price. On the south the stripping does not exceed twenty feet. The strike of the strata in these quarries seems to prove that they are the same, that is, the quarries of Joyce and of Robison are working the same beds, although Mr. Robison thinks that he is working in a lower horizon. He reports also having sunk fourteen feet beneath the bottom of his quarry, or forty-nine feet below tide level, through shaly beds only, without finding any solid rock. Two engines are employed to work the derricks and do the pumping. As in the other quar- ries, large blocks are broken out, and then eut up into the desired forms for market. This quarry has been vigorously worked since 1880, and a large amount of stone has been taken out for the Newark, New York and Brooklyn market, besides the sales made in other places.

A. PHILIP & SONS' QUARBY2-As already men- tioned, is in the same opening as that of Robison, and joins the latter on the north, and south of the Bloon- field Road; and the average thickness of the glacial drift is ten feet ; then there are about ten feet of shaly beds, making a total of twenty feet of stripping. The dip is 10° to northwest, and the main joint has a course south, 85° west, vertical. There is at the west end a fine-grained, chocolate-colored stone; further east the stone is of a grayish shade, and varies from a coarse granular to a fine granular variety. As in the other quarries here, the gray stone contains fine grains of a whitish feldspar, distributed sparingly among the quartz. The mixture has a pleasing appearance, and the stone dresses easily and true, and the finer-grained variety can be rubbed. The strata worked by the Messrs. Philip are above those opened by Robison. One steam derrick and two steam pumps are in use, as there is a large amount of water issuing from the rocks at the west end. The stone for foun-

1 d'ook's Geology of New Jersey.

" Cook's Geology of New Jerwy.

FREESTONE AND SANDSTONE QUARRIES IN ESSEX COUNTY.

dation walls sells at twenty-five cents per cubic foot, and from that the price ranges upwards to two dollars for the finer grades, suitable for monumental work.

In all these quarries malachite occurs near the east end and near the outerops of the bed, in thin seams lying between the strata. Bituminous coal, in thin layer -. is also found; and coaly stems and impressions of leaves and trunks are occasionally found. Robison and Joyce both report finding large stems several inches in diameter.

BELLEVILLE STONE COMPANY.1-North of the Bloomfield road, and but a few rods from Philip's quarry, is the quarry opened by this Company in 1880, and work fairly begun in the summer of 1881, when a large amount of work was done in uncovering and stripping the upper inferior stone from the more solid and merchantable stone, as is found in the other quarries. The company fully developed and are sat- isfactorily working their quarry.

Newark Quarries .- There are four stone quarries in the city of Newark, all located on the crest of the hill or ridge. west of Fifth Avenue, and near Bloomfield Avenue, and all within less than half a mile from the Passaic River, and the Erie, and Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad stations, and only one mile from the Pennsylvania and Central New Jersey depots. They are all favored by comparatively light stripping, little water, and a good thickness of excellent stone. The pleasing shades of color, evenness of grain and durability, as shown in old buildings in Newark and other cities, attest its value; and it commands a ready market. The ra- pidly increasing demand and value of the land for building sites, and the unsightliness of quarries in cities, will soon compel them to give way to the ad- vancing city. The total product of these quarries, for 1881, was $120,000. The principal market for the stone is found in Newark and New York, while large quantities are sent to Albany, N. Y., New llaven, Conn., and Princeton, N. J., and other surrounding towns.

THE NEWARK QUARRY COMPANY, whose works are located on the south of the Avenue, is one of the oldest in the State. The working face, running from North to South, is over four hundred feet long, while the quarrying now moves westerly and southerly, and the stripping is used to fill the excavated area on the east, as all this ground is valuable for building sites. The stripping varies from ten to twenty feet thick, and appears to be rather less at the southwest, and work is being pushed in that direction. The order of the stratification in the west face of the quarry is approximately as follows :

1. Glacial Drift . 12 0.

2. shaly rock, here formed " Callous," in which is workable strata . .15 0

3. Shaly hed4 . 1 to 4 A.

4 Dark-colored rod mandatone

5. Dark -colored red sandstone, varying in thirknem 1 ft

6. Lightavlored sandstone in thick beds

7. Callous, very thin .

8. Dark-colored and handler stone . to o A.

The dip is 5º north, 65° west, and the joints are very irregular, and no general direction is apparent in them. The stone of "6" in the section as given above, is most largely quarried, while the bottom rock is less used. Very little powder is used in quar- rying here, and that in blowing down the top or stripping. Large sized blocks are obtained by wedg- ing off, following the planes of joints and of bedding. A small steam pump, working only a part of the time, raises the water from the bed of the quarry. while a larger engine works the derricks for hoist- ing the stone. A large force of men are usually em- ployed, and large quantities of stone quarried, which well for an average price of seventy eents per cubic foot. The market for the stone is Newark, New York. New Haven, Albany, Princeton and other places.

WILLIAM A. RIGHTER'S QUARRY,? formerly worked by Robert Matches, and now worked by Philip Ilochnle, is on the northeast side of Bloomfield Avenue, and northeast of that of the Newark Quarry Company. The quarry is old, and the area worked over must be as much as seven hundred feet long, by three hundred feet wide, and the estimated contents are said to be 300,000 cubic yards. The lowest place in the quarry is over sixty feet. The approxi- mate figures of the vertical sections are given as follow- :

1. Glacial Drift. . 15 0.

2. Stone in thick beds, 12 0.

3. Shaly beds. 3 0.

4. Thick bedded strata 12 ft.

W. D. PATTERSON'S QUARRY was opened in 1880- I, and is on north side of Bloomfield Avenue, a few rods west of Righter's quarry, and the excavation only about fifty feet deep; the glacial drift is from five to eight feet thick; then come shaly beds with some red sandstone, from ten to fifteen feet thick ; next below is a drab-colored stone about twelve feet thick. The dip is 8º north, 60° west. The stone is uniform in texture, fine grained, and of a good color.

Orange .- BELL'S QUARRY' is in the eastern face of the First Mountain, in West Orange Township, about one mile from Orange City, and is worked by James Bell & Co., of Orange. The present quarry is south of the earlier ones opened here, and is about two hundred yards from the Orange and Northfield Turnpike. The excavated area measures over three hundred by seventy-five feet, and at the back of the quarry is over forty feet deep. The dip of the strata is about 15º west northwest, while the joints are north and south, and east and west. There is

Cook's Geological Reports.

3 From Prof. G. 11. Couk's Report s.

4 l'onk's Geological Reporta

1 Cook's Geology of New Jersey.

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

a fault traversing the quarry from north to south, and dipping steeply to the east, though the amount of dis- placement is only a few feet. The stripping consists of about ten feet of earth, about twenty feet of shaly beds, and the total thickness of the quarry bed is fourteen feet. The stone is of a reddish color, coarse grained, and dresses smooth. The quarry is so situ- ated that there is no water to interfere with the work-

ing, thus lessening the expense of quarrying. The stones from this quarry are nearly all used in Orange and vicinity, and prices range from five cents a cubic foot for foundation stone, to ninety cents for cut stone for sills, etc. Stones from the old quarry in Llewellyn Park were quarried in 1867->, for building St. John's Roman Catholic Church, in Orange.

O'ROURKE'S QUARRY. Orange, Essex County, New Jersey.

()'ROURKE'S QUARRY .- The following sketch of Mr. John O'Rourke's quarry is from a letter of Prof. George HI. Cook, published in the " Orange Journal" of Sept. 27, 1884 :

The quarrying for trap-rock on the face of Orange Mountain has brought to view a most remarkable and interesting exposure of basaltic columns.

The workings have been extended along the mountain for even hun- dred feet, and the fare worked over is about thirty fret high at the enela. and) in the middle it ja nearly one hundred feet high. The whole of thus surface la mada up of columns of rock as perfect in form as if cut out by workmeo and parked in as closely as the hexagonal cells in a honeycomb.

The columns are mostly six-ided, though there are some with only tiva sides, and those with still other numbers of rides are occasionally met with. Those at tho twoextremities of the quarry are perpendicular. and perhaps thirty feet high, while the higher portion in the middle is mula up of columns which are more or lu Inclined, as if directed to- wards a central line.

The column» In the mme part of the quarry are quite uniform in size all appearance, but those at tha aurtheast end are much the largeat, some of them being four feet arries a single side ; those at the moth wert are smaller, but still very large, bring from two to two-and-a-half foot acrise the rides, while those in the middle are in thaje a foot or more in the mme measurement.

These rocks rise to the very erest of the mountain, and make all of its higher sod rougher parts, but underneath them is a great platform of red sandstone extending back and slanting downwards into the moun- tain. At the quarry this rock is only from four to eight feet below the working bottom, and these gigantic pillars seem to stand upon it.

The trap-rock is of igneous origin. It has been melted beneath the surface and then forced through fractures or between the inclined layers of the overlying rock out to the surfare. The peculinr and characteris- tie structure of the rock has been developed in its cooling and solidifica- tion. The difference in the appearance of the rock structure in different parts of the quarry suggests the thought that the rock here bas Dof all been forced out at once, but that it has come out in at least two or three successive eruptions.

The character and fine exposure of the rocks here make a suggestive subject of study for geologists and naturalista, and, as a ontural curiosity, it is well worth a visit. And while most interesting geological pheno- mena are found in remote, uncleared and rough places, this is near to excellent roads, and the working of the quarry hue cleared off all the loose rubbish from the surface and left the rock of the mountain clear and perfectly open to view.

It belongs to the same class of rocks, both in material and structure. with tha Giant's Causeway in Ireland, but is on a much larger aule, as will be wen by comparing the dimensions given above, with the follow- ing, tuken frum a description of the noted curiosity of Ireland, which MYB : "In diameter the mallurs vary from fifteen to twenty inches, and in height mane ure as much as twenty fert."

WATER SUPPLY OF ESSEX COUNTY FOR DOMESTIC USE.

The quarry is reached by going up. Mt. Pleasant Avenue Till the fort of the steep part of the mountain is rouw hed, and then turning off to the left in a wagon truck, who .b Heds into the quarry two hundred or three hundred feet.

Grones H. Cook.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N. J., Sept. 24, 1=x4.

Mr. Toombs, editor of the Journal, has this to say of this natural geological curiosity .

The discovery of a remarkable exhibit of basaltic columns, on the Orange Mountain, is attracting wide attention, and it is indeed one of the greatest natural curiosities in the country. Visitors to Europe go out of their way many miles to view the Giant's Cause- way, in Ireland, and this new discovery reveals a eu- riosity superior in the size of the columns and in beauty of formation.

Pleasant Valley .- F. W. SHRUMr's QUARRY.' located between the First and Second Mountains, near the township line, between Caldwell and West Orange, also in the face of the Second Mountain, was opened in 1871, and about two acres have been worked over. At the northwest it is fifty-five feet deep, and at the top there is a sandy earth and then a shaly rock, in all, twelve to sixteen feet thick, which has to be removed to get at the workable beds. These are a grayish-colored, rather eparse-grained stone, in thick beds, and under them there is ten feet of red, fine-grained sandstone, suitable for rubbing and polishing. The same rock is in the bottom lead where the quarrying stops, and the same kind of rock is reported to have been met with in sinking a well thirty-five feet lower, at a house a few rods from the quarry. The dip is 100 westerly; the joints are clean, and one system, very regular and continuous, runs vertical, with 70° west ; the other at right angle to it, and also vertical, is not continuous throughout. By means of these divisional planes or backs and headers, the stone is easily quarried, and large sized blocks are obtained. Blocks thinvy feet long, eleven-and-a-half feet wide and ten feet thick, have been taken out, and stone twelve feet six inches long, eight feet six inches wide, and two feet eight inches thick have been removed.

The hoisting and loading is done by a ten horse power engine working a derrick, when the stones are carted to the Morris Canal, two-and-half miles dis- tant, and to the railroad at Montclair and Orange, points about equally distant. New York is the prin- cipal market, though much stone from this quarry has been been put into churches and other building- in the vicinity. The Caldwell Presbyterian Church, the Reformed Church, in East Orange, and the addi- tions to Grace Protestant Episcopal Church, are built of stone from this quarry. The prices range from ten cents to one dollar and twenty-five cents per eubic foot, according to quality.

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History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. I, Part 4

Author: Shaw, William H Publication date: 1884 Publisher: [United States :] Number of Pages: 840

Author: Shaw, William H
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: [United States :]
Number of Pages: 840