Bedford, IN limestone, Indiana Statehouse

Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important

building material Building material is material used for construction. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rocks, sand, wood, and even twigs and leaves, have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many man-ma ...

, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, a

geological formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...

primarily quarried in south central

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, USA, between the cities of Bloomington and

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

. It has been called the best

quarried A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

in the United States. Indiana limestone, like all limestone, is a rock primarily formed of calcium carbonate. It was deposited over millions of years as marine fossils decomposed at the bottom of a shallow inland sea which covered most of the present-day Midwestern United States during the Mississippian Period.

History

Native Americans were the first people to discover limestone in Indiana. Not long after they arrived, American settlers used this rock around their windows and doors and for memorials around the towns. The first

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

was started in 1827, and by 1929

Hoosier Hoosier is the official demonym for the people of the U.S. state of Indiana. The origin of the term remains a matter of debate, but "Hoosier" was in general use by the 1840s, having been popularized by Richmond resident John Finley's 1833 poem " ...

quarries yielded 12,000,000 ft³ (340,000 cubic meters) of usable stone. The expansion of the railroads brought great need for limestone to build bridges and tunnels and Indiana was the place to get it.

American architecture The architecture of the United States demonstrates a broad variety of architectural styles and built forms over the country's history of over two centuries of independence and former Spanish and British rule. Architecture in the United States ...

of the late 19th and early 20th century included a lot of limestone detail work on buildings, but as architectural styles changed, so did the demand for limestone. Indiana limestone was officially designated as the state stone of Indiana by the Indiana General Assembly in 1971. With the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973, the price of alternative building materials skyrocketed so Indiana limestone reemerged as an energy-efficient building material.

Use in notable buildings

Local

Many of Indiana's official buildings, such as the State capitol building, the monuments in

Downtown Indianapolis Downtown Indianapolis is a neighborhood area and the central business district of Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Downtown is bordered by Interstate 65, Interstate 70, and the White River, and is situated near the geographic center of Ma ...

, the

Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law The Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law (IU McKinney) is located on the campus of Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) in Indianapolis, Indiana, the urban campus of Indiana University. In the summer of 2001 ...

, many university buildings, and the Indiana Government Center, and most of the state's 92 courthouses are all examples of Indiana architecture made with Indiana limestone. The majority of

Indiana University, Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest campu ...

, was constructed out of limestone. 1959's architecturally significant St. Augustine's Episcopal Church, in

Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the sou ...

, uses Indiana limestone in the interior. The Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church in Merrillville, Indiana, consecrated in 1991 and awarded a Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Masonry Design, uses Indiana limestone on its exterior facade.

National

Nationally, Indiana limestone has long been part of a

high-end In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good for which demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a greater proportion of overall spending. Luxury goods are in contrast t ...

market. It has mostly been used on the exteriors of homes and commercial and government buildings. MercuryClock2013

Many prominent public buildings in the United States — such as the

National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the ca ...

, Biltmore Estate, Empire State Building,

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a meton ...

, The Crescent in Dallas, and the

Hotel Pennsylvania The Hotel Pennsylvania was a historic hotel at 401 Seventh Avenue (15 Penn Plaza) in Manhattan, across the street from Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden in New York City. Opened in 1919, it was once the largest hotel in the world. ...

— feature Indiana limestone in their exteriors. Some 35 of the 50 state capitol buildings in the United States are made of Indiana limestone. It was used extensively in rebuilding Chicago after the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...

of 1871. The sculptural group atop the main façade of New York City's Grand Central Terminal — known as ''Glory of Commerce'' — is made of Indiana Limestone. (A work by

Jules-Félix Coutan Jules-Félix Coutan (22 September 1848 – 23 February 1939) was a French sculptor and educator. Life As a student at the École des Beaux-Arts, Coutan was awarded the Prix de Rome in 1872; after his return to Paris he executed the f ...

, it includes representations of

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the Rom ...

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

, and Mercury and, at its unveiling in 1914, was considered the largest sculptural group in the world.) The original 1930s buildings of

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span th ...

use limestone from Bedford. In 1955 the

Tennessee State Capitol The Tennessee State Capitol, located in Nashville, Tennessee, is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Tennessee. It serves as the home of both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly–the Tennessee House of Representatives and the Tenn ...

exterior was renovated using Indiana limestone to replace the poorer-quality Tennessee limestone that had started to deteriorate. Indiana limestone was used in the rebuilding of

after the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001. The project took around 15,000 cubic feet of stone and was rededicated exactly one year after the attack. The new

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

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 ...

, which opened in 2009, extensively uses Indiana limestone paneling on its exterior facade. Indiana limestone has been particularly popular for the construction of

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

buildings. The

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

campus of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

is almost entirely constructed out of Indiana limestone; in keeping with the trend of post-Fire buildings using the material. The campus of

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

– both for new construction and original buildings – makes use of Indiana limestone in its collegiate gothic architecture. Many buildings on the north side of Michigan State University use Indiana limestone. The

Cathedral of Learning The Cathedral of Learning is a 42-story skyscraper that serves as the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh's (Pitt) main campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Standing at , the 42-story Late Gothic Revival Cat ...

, a 42-story neo-gothic skyscraper that is the largest educational building in the Western Hemisphere, along with other nearby buildings of the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

, are clad in Indiana limestone. The St. Anthony Society Chapter House at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

also is built of Indiana limestone. Many of the gargoyles on the buildings of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

were carved from Indiana limestone, including "Flute Player", a gargoyle located on the exterior of

Firestone Library Princeton University Library is the main library system of Princeton University. With holdings of more than 7 million books, 6 million microforms, and 48,000 linear feet of manuscripts, it is among the largest libraries in the world by number of ...

. Both structures of the

Kenosha County Courthouse and Jail The Kenosha County Courthouse and Jail is located in Kenosha, Wisconsin in the United States. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Description The first Kenosha County Courthouse was built in 1850 when Kenosha C ...

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

, were built out of the limestone. This stone was used as far north as the

Hotel Macdonald The Fairmont Hotel Macdonald, formerly and commonly known as the Hotel Macdonald (colloquially known as The Mac), is a large historic luxury hotel in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Located along 100 Street NW, south of Jasper Avenue, the hotel is situa ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. The

Nebraska State Capitol The Nebraska State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Nebraska and is located in downtown Lincoln. Designed by New York architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue in 1920, it was constructed of Indiana limestone from 1922 to 19 ...

is clad in Indiana Limestone, after native limestone was deemed too prone to weathering. Because of the advent of acid rain, which wears Indiana Limestone relatively quickly, the stone is not as often used in monuments today as it was in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

References

External links

{{commons category, Indiana Limestone
Indiana BedrockIndiana Geological Survey explanation of Indiana limestoneIndiana limestone Institute of America''Indiana Limestone: The Aristocrat of Building Materials''
June 1920, Vol. 1, 6th Edition, Indiana Limestone Quarrymen's Association, Bedford, Indiana.

Geologic formations of Indiana Limestone formations of the United States Building stone Symbols of Indiana