The McDonald Farm is a historic agricultural complex near the city of

Xenia Xenia may refer to: People * Xenia (name), a feminine given name; includes a list of people with this name Places United States ''listed alphabetically by state'' * Xenia, Illinois, a village in Clay County ** Xenia Township, Clay County, Il ...

in Greene County,

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. It has been named a

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been re ...

, largely because of a quarry on the farm, which supplied stone for the

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States, victorious commander-in-chief of the Continen ...

Geology

Much of Greene County is underlain by Dayton Limestone, a high-quality

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

whose type locality is in the city of

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

in the adjacent

Montgomery County Montgomery County may refer to: Australia * The former name of Montgomery Land District, Tasmania United Kingdom * The historic county of Montgomeryshire, Wales, also called County of Montgomery United States * Montgomery County, Alabama * Montg ...

. Farmers in Greene County supplied building stone for local needs through much of the nineteenth century, and by the late 1870s it was being exported to distant localities by the Dayton and Xenia Railroad.Dills, R.S.
History of Greene County, Together with Historic Notes on the Northwest, and the State of Ohio
'.

: Odell and Mayer, 1881. Wilford McDonald, who lived about south of Xenia, began quarrying limestone from his farm around 1820,Ohio Historical Marker Dedicated at McDonald Quarry, Greene County
". ''Ohio Geology'' Summer 1996: 7. Accessed 2013-01-01. after it was

exposed Expose, exposé, or exposed may refer to: News sources * Exposé (journalism), a form of investigative journalism * '' The Exposé'', a British conspiracist website * '' Exeposé'', a student-run newspaper of the University of Exeter Film and TV ...

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

from a nearby small stream. Quarrying revealed limestone deposits as deep as in some places, much of it smoothed by glacial abrasion. The reputation of McDonald's quarry became more prominent than any other source of Greene County limestone; before

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

became prominent as a building material, McDonald supplied substantial amounts of limestone for Xenia buildings, and some of his stone was transported to farther localities.Broadstone, Michael A.
History of Greene County, Ohio: Its People, Industries, and Institutions
'. Vol. 1.

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

: Bowen, 1918, 66. Eventually, McDonald became known as the supplier of one of Ohio's best limestones. Quarrying continued until 1896, when the stream by the quarry flooded it, although a small amount of stone was quarried in the 1930s. Today, the quarry remains filled with water.

Historic significance

In 1849, each of the United States was asked to supply a block of stone for the construction of the

. Because McDonald's quarry was known as one of Ohio's best sources of limestone, state geologists decided to supply a block of McDonald stone, and a Xenia mason produced a block measuring to be sent to Washington, D.C., where it was eventually placed in the monument's interior stairway. In 1996, the McDonald Farm was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, by Margretta Lott Bodewell-Great-Great-Granddaughter of the original owner of the property, qualifying both because of the farm buildings' architecture and because of the farm's place in local history. The architecture of the farm buildings is mixed among multiple architectural styles, including a vernacular

I-house The I-house is a vernacular architecture, vernacular house type, popular in the United States from the colonial period onward. The I-house was so named in the 1930s by Fred Kniffen, a cultural geographer at Louisiana State University who was a sp ...

and the formal Federal and

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

styles.,

Ohio Historical Society Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...

, 2007. Accessed 2013-01-01. The historic portion of the farm comprises nine buildings and two sites over an area of , which is designated a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

References

{{NRHP in Greene County, Ohio Buildings and structures in Greene County, Ohio Farms on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Federal architecture in Ohio Greek Revival houses in Ohio Limestone industry National Register of Historic Places in Greene County, Ohio Quarries in the United States Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Xenia, Ohio 1829 establishments in Ohio