Building with Limestone

Building with Limestone. Building materials just below the soil. , "When we build let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for; and let us think, as we lay stone on stone, that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them." , - John Ruskin, Early settlers, surprised by the lack of trees in the area, had to face the challenge of building without wood. In response, they turned to the native stone and established quarries to harvest the malleable fencepost limestone from the Greenhorn Formation near the ground's surface., The limestone was abundant, soft enough to shape with hand tools when fresh, and became hard and weatherproof in the open air. On the other hand, quarrying required skill and time, and transporting the heavy material (a post could weigh over 350 pounds) took effort and ingenuity. But the benefits outweighed the disadvantages. Today, post rock limestone is an icon for the area, uniting the natural and built environments, and the limestone posts and architecture remain a visible and functional link to the past. The stone also speaks to the resiliency of early settlers who adapted to the landscape and used it to build durable structures that have lasted and served for over a hundred years., While the popularity of building with stone declined since the early 20th century, the tradition continues. Post rock has become a cultural symbol of central Kansas, representing the land and its people and fostering a new means of expression through a local folk art that reflects legacy and sometimes whimsy of the Kansas pioneer spirit., Hard Work: The Process of Quarrying Fencepost Limestone , As the region was being settled, people familiar with the art and craft of masonry guided less experienced community members through the process of stone quarrying. Others quickly learned the skills and the techniques spread. These skills and traditions are visible today at places like the Vonada Stone Company and Quarry near Sylvan Grove. , The most common stone working technique was the wedge and feather method which used only simple tools. A simple instruction manual to extracting limestone for posts includes the following steps: , 1. Expose the limestone by removing or turning back the soil , 2. Drill holes in the limestone approximately 8 inches apart , 3. Insert wedges (plugs) and feathers (shims) in the holes , 4. Pound the wedges along the stone with a hammer until the rock splits , 5. Size and shape the removed limestone , 6. Age the limestone, allowing it to weather/harden. , Once posts were quarried, they were hauled to the fields, another time-consuming and labor intensive process.