Saturday, 14 April 2018

Limestone 2: Rocks and Minerals

Rocks and Minerals, Golden Press 1957

Locally quarried limestone figured in the building of some of Ottawa's earliest stone buildings.
The Ottawa Locks and associated structures (including the now Bytown Museum) were built from rocks quarried on site. Indeed, a sizeable gouge was removed from what is now the SW corner of Major's Hill Park — this had to be back-filled before the park could be landscaped.

Until about 1910, most Ottawa houses were built on rough-faced limestone foundations. Many such buildings can still be seen in Sandy Hill and Centretown. Limestone was also cooked ("burned") in kilns as feed-stock for plaster, mortar, white-wash, soil conditioner, and eventually the concrete that would replace stone in construction.