Tuckahoe marble (also known as Inwood and Westchester marble) is a type of
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...
found in southern
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
state and western
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
. Part of the
Inwood Formation of the
Manhattan Prong The Manhattan Prong of the New England Uplands is a smaller belt of ancient rock in southern New York (including Manhattan, the Bronx, and segments of Brooklyn and Staten Island), parts of Westchester County, and upland portions of southwestern Conn ...
, it dates from the
Late Cambrian
Late may refer to:
* LATE, an acronym which could stand for:
** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia
** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law
** Local average treatment effect, ...
to the
Early Ordovician
The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period Mya.
...
ages (~484
ma ago). It was first quarried on a large scale commercially in the village of
Tuckahoe, New York. Deposits are also found in the
Inwood area of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, in
Eastchester, New York
Eastchester is a town in southern Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was over 34,641 at the 2020 United States census over 32,363 at the 2010 census. There are two villages within the town: Bronxville and Tuckahoe. The ...
, and extending southward to parts of
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
, such as
Kingsbridge
Kingsbridge is a market town and tourist hub in the South Hams district of Devon, England, with a population of 6,116 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards bear the name of ''Kingsbridge'' (East & North). Their combined population at the abo ...
,
Mott Haven
Mott Haven is an American primarily residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of the Bronx. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are East 149th Street to the north, the Bruckner E ...
,
Melrose and
Tremont and
Marble Hill. Other locations in
Westchester County
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...
include
Ossining,
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
, and
Thornwood.
Description and geology
Tuckahoe marble is a high quality marble first quarried on a large commercial scale in 1822 in the village of
Tuckahoe in Westchester County. The marble is from the larger Inwood Formation or deposit, which stretches northeasterly from mid-Manhattan through southern Westchester and into western Connecticut. The marble is characterized scientifically as a
dolomitic
Dolomite () is an anhydrous carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate, ideally The term is also used for a sedimentary carbonate rock composed mostly of the mineral dolomite. An alternative name sometimes used for the dolomiti ...
marble and varies in color from a light gray to light green, to a bluish white or brilliant white. A distinctive characteristic is the medium-to-coarse size of the
calcite
Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...
and
dolomite Dolomite may refer to:
*Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral
*Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock
*Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community
*Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...
particles that primarily compose the stone, which often contains minor amounts of
hematite
Hematite (), also spelled as haematite, is a common iron oxide compound with the formula, Fe2O3 and is widely found in rocks and soils. Hematite crystals belong to the rhombohedral lattice system which is designated the alpha polymorph of . ...
and
pyrite
The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Iron, FeSulfur, S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral.
Pyrite's metallic Luster (mineralogy), lust ...
.
Oxidation
Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a d ...
of these iron-bearing minerals causes certain varieties of the marble to turn orange-brown when the stone is exposed to weather.
History
![Tuckahoe quarry ny monument 2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Tuckahoe_quarry_ny_monument_2009.png)
The vast majority of the early residential and commercial buildings in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
were constructed with wood while government and institutional buildings and mansions of the wealthy were often built of brick or stone. Locally quarried Manhattan schist and sandstone from the lower Hudson Valley were typically used before marble became more popular. By the late 18th century, marble was being produced by a number of quarries in northern Manhattan and along the Hudson River in Westchester. The most well-known quarry that supplied stone from the deposit was in the area now known as
Tuckahoe. This "Tuckahoe marble" was nearly pure white in color and considered by many to be of the highest grade.
Many federal buildings destroyed by the British during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
were rebuilt with Tuckahoe marble. The commercial marble industry first developed along the
Bronx River
The Bronx River (), approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States and drains an area of . It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. Besides the Hutchinson River, the Bronx River is the only fresh water river i ...
. In 1818 the Tuckahoe Marble Quarry opened and eventually became a major producer of marble for the world. These local marble quarries were the main reason that the state government of New York chose
Sing Sing
Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north of ...
as the site of a new prison in 1825.
[Crime Library profile of Sing Sing Prison ]
From 1865 to 1871, hundreds of
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
and
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
laborers blasted huge quantities of marble from the quarry at
Hastings-on-Hudson
Hastings-on-Hudson is a village in Westchester County located in the southwestern part of the town of Greenburgh in the state of New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of midtown Manha ...
. An
inclined railroad carried it down to the quarry wharf on the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
where it was dressed by
skilled stonecutters and loaded onto ships and barges bound for New York City and beyond, as far as
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
. By the 1880s, Hastings Pavement was producing the paving blocks used extensively in
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
and
Prospect Park in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. Between 1895 and 1900, Hastings Pavement produced 10 million such blocks and shipped them throughout the U.S. and to cities in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
White Tuckahoe marble supplied the early United States with a building material suitable for the neoclassical architecture popular in America's early public buildings. Tuckahoe Marble was the single most important white marble deposit in the country until the latter part of the 1800s, when development of the railroad made the extensive, high quality marble deposits of southwestern Vermont more available. Quarrying of Tuckahoe marble ceased in 1930.
Buildings and structures
Local
Local structures constructed of Inwood marble include:
*
New York Marble Cemetery
The New York Marble Cemetery is a burial ground established in 1830 in what is now the East Village of Manhattan. It occupies the interior of the block bounded by 2nd Street, Second Avenue, 3rd Street, and the Bowery. I ...
(1830) burial vaults, aboveground walls, and engraved tablets
*
New York City Marble Cemetery
The New York City Marble Cemetery is a historic cemetery founded in 1831, and located at 52-74 East 2nd Street between First and Second Avenues in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The cemetery has 258 undergroun ...
(1831) burial vaults and aboveground walls
*
Colonnade Row
Colonnade Row, also known as LaGrange Terrace, on present-day Lafayette Street in New York City's NoHo neighborhood, is a landmarked series of Greek revival buildings originally built in the early 1830s. They are believed to have been built by Se ...
/LaGrange Terrace (1832), Manhattan
*
Marble Schoolhouse (1835),
Eastchester, New York
Eastchester is a town in southern Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was over 34,641 at the 2020 United States census over 32,363 at the 2010 census. There are two villages within the town: Bronxville and Tuckahoe. The ...
*
Federal Hall National Memorial
Federal Hall is a historic building at 26 Wall Street in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. The current Greek Revival–style building, completed in 1842 as the Custom House, is operated by the National Park Service as a nati ...
(1842), Manhattan
*
A.T. Stewart Company Store (also known as the Sun Building; the "Marble Palace") (1845–46), Manhattan
*
Grace Episcopal Church (1846), Manhattan
*
Brooklyn Borough Hall
Brooklyn Borough Hall is a building in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City. It was designed by architects Calvin Pollard and Gamaliel King in the Greek Revival style, and constructed of Tuckahoe marble under the supervision of superintendent Ste ...
(1849)
*
Marble Collegiate Church
The Marble Collegiate Church, founded in 1628, is one of the oldest continuous Protestant congregations in North America. The congregation, which is part of two denominations in the Reformed tradition—the United Church of Christ and the Reform ...
, Manhattan (1851-54)
*
Seaman-Drake Arch
The Seaman-Drake Arch, also known as the Inwood Arch, is a remnant of a hilltop estate built in 1855 in the Inwood, Manhattan, Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City by the Seaman family. Located at 5065 Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway at ...
. Manhattan (1855)
*
St. Patrick's Cathedral (1858–78), Manhattan
*
Tweed Courthouse
The Tweed Courthouse (also known as the Old New York County Courthouse) is a historic courthouse building at 52 Chambers Street (Manhattan), Chambers Street in the Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center of Manhattan in New York City. It was ...
(1861–72), Manhattan
*
Washington Square Arch
The Washington Square Arch, officially the Washington Arch, is a marble memorial arch in Washington Square Park, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. Designed by architect Stanford White in 1891, it commemora ...
(1891), Manhattan
*
Union Baptist Church (1904), New Rochelle
*
Immaculate Conception Church (1911), Eastchester
Distant
Prominent uses of Tuckahoe marble beyond the New York City metropolitan area include:
*
General Post Office
The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...
(now the
Hotel Monaco
The Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, LLC is a San Francisco, California, based hotel and restaurant brand owned by IHG Hotels & Resorts (IHG) since 2015. Founded in 1981 by Bill Kimpton and led by Chief Executive Officer Mike DeFrino, the group ...
) (1842), Washington, D.C.
*
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and the ...
(1848), Washington, D.C.
*
Marble House
Marble House, a Gilded Age mansion located at 596 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, was built from 1888 to 1892 as a summer cottage for Alva and William Kissam Vanderbilt and was designed by Richard Morris Hunt in the Beaux Arts style. ...
(1888–92), Newport, Rhode Island
See also
*
List of types of marble
The following is a list of various types of marble according to location.
(NB: Marble-like stone which is not true marble according to geologists is included, but is indicated by ''italics'' with geologic classification given as footnote.
Afri ...
References
{{reflist
Further reading
* Torres, Louis (1976), ''Tuckahoe Marble: The Rise and Fall of an Industry in Eastchester, New York, 1822-1930''; Harrison, N.Y., Harbor Hill Books.
* Urquhart, Gordon Ross (1986), ''The Architectural History of the Westchester Marble Industry''; Unpublished Master's Thesis, School of Architecture,
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
.
* Ware, Robert Lamb (2001)
''A Comparison of Fresh and Weathered Marble from the Tweed Courthouse: A Thesis in Historic Preservation Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master of Science'' University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
.
Building stone
Sculpture materials
Marble
Geology of New York (state)
Quarries in the United States
Tuckahoe, Westchester County, New York
Westchester County, New York
Manhattan
The Bronx