The Glory of Regional Silurian Dolostone, Part 40: Closing in on the Bituminous Blobbery | First Presbyterian Church (1887 with various later additions), Lake Forest, Illinois, USA
Looking west-southwestward at the church's facade.
Now we have crossed the intersection of Deerpath and Sheridan Roads and are stealthily creeping up to the front of this architecturally distinguished house of worship. We're taking our time because this is one of Chicagoland's most geologically intriguing buildings. There's a lot to take in.
As noted previously, First Presbyterian is an interesting blend of Norman and Shingle styles with an impressive quantity of cedar shakes on its exterior. But the stone below it, Regional Silurian Dolostone of the Artesian variety, boasts the more interesting origin story.
Quarried on the Windy City's West Side, the oddly spotted rock was first used to great effect in that town's Second Presbyterian Church. But after the edifice burned down in the Great Fire of 1871, the stone was recycled and used here. For more on that, see Part 39 of this set.
From this closer distance, the idiosyncratically distributed bitumen staining, on some but not all of the randomly set ashlar blocks, is much more apparent. We'll discuss the origins of that black organic residue, a characteristic feature of dimension stone produced in the Artesian quarries, in the next post of this series.
The other photos and descriptions in this series can be found at Glory of Silurian Dolostone album.
The Glory of Regional Silurian Dolostone, Part 40: Closing in on the Bituminous Blobbery | First Presbyterian Church (1887 with various later additions), Lake Forest, Illinois, USA
Looking west-southwestward at the church's facade.
Now we have crossed the intersection of Deerpath and Sheridan Roads and are stealthily creeping up to the front of this architecturally distinguished house of worship. We're taking our time because this is one of Chicagoland's most geologically intriguing buildings. There's a lot to take in.
As noted previously, First Presbyterian is an interesting blend of Norman and Shingle styles with an impressive quantity of cedar shakes on its exterior. But the stone below it, Regional Silurian Dolostone of the Artesian variety, boasts the more interesting origin story.
Quarried on the Windy City's West Side, the oddly spotted rock was first used to great effect in that town's Second Presbyterian Church. But after the edifice burned down in the Great Fire of 1871, the stone was recycled and used here. For more on that, see Part 39 of this set.
From this closer distance, the idiosyncratically distributed bitumen staining, on some but not all of the randomly set ashlar blocks, is much more apparent. We'll discuss the origins of that black organic residue, a characteristic feature of dimension stone produced in the Artesian quarries, in the next post of this series.
The other photos and descriptions in this series can be found at Glory of Silurian Dolostone album.