Foundation of the City

Foundation of the City. . , Quartzite is the stone you see revealed throughout Falls Park. Sioux Quartzite is the local name for his stone. It was also called Jasper. Sioux Quartzite provided both the physical and financial base for the city of Sioux Falls. , Quartzite is very hard , harder than granite and nearly as hard as diamond. Sioux Quartzite, the bedrock under all of Sioux Falls, is dramatically exposed in several areas including Falls Park. , Several companies in the Falls area quarried and sold quartzite. Other businesses grew up around the Falls, attracted by the promise of harnessing the energy of the river. These businesses were the financial foundation of the young city. , The high cost of cutting the stone and the development of less expensive construction methods lead to the decline of Sioux Quartzite as a building and paving material. The stone is still quarried, but today it is used mainly as crushed stone in concrete and road pavement. , Sioux Quartzite's distinctive color, strength and durability made it a desirable building material. It was used to build the finer buildings and homes in Sioux Falls. Cut stones and paving blocks were also sold to many other cities in the U.S. and Europe, to be used for their prominent buildings and streets. , A number of Sioux Falls' significant buildings were constructed with Sioux Quartzite. An excellent example is the Federal Building, formerly the Post Office, in downtown Sioux Falls. The building stone was cut from quarries near the Falls. Originally it was a two-story building, completed in 1895. In later years, a third floor and additions were built.