  
The potential value of the varied stone resources of the State was recognized early, and in 1904 a systematic study was begun under the direction of the North Carolina Geological Survey for the purpose of evaluating the granite, sandstone, and marble deposits of North Carolina. The subsequent report, based on the field and laboratory work done by T. L. Watson and F. B. Laney and titled, "The Building and Ornamental Stones of North Carolina," contains detailed information regarding location, mode of occurrence, uses, physical and chemical characteristics of stone deposits of North Carolina, and the extent of their utilization. Since its publication in 1906, this report has served as a valuable guide to the stone resources, especially granite, in North Carolina; however, it is no longer available for public distribution, and the need for a new report of this type is mandatory in the light of the increased importance and continuing growth of the stone industry in the State. Because granite and related crystalline rocks constitute the principal commercial stone deposits of North Carolina, this report has as its primary purpose a re-evaluation of the granite resources, and it is designed as a guide to the granite industry and the areas of present and potential granite production. It contains information pertaining to the economics of rock-quarrying, the origin and composition of granite, its physical and structural properties, descriptions of the areas in North Carolina in which granites occur and are utilized commercially, the principal methods of granite-quarrying, and the various methods of testing the durability of both dimension and crushed stone. By Richard J. Councill, 1954. 59 pages.
|
