Convict Hill EarthCache
Hidden : 11/6/2013
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: other (other)

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Geocache Description:


Just in Case

Convict Hill Earthcache

You are standing at the rock cliff of Convict Hill.

A large limestone outcrop towers above the area along Hwy. 290 W. just past where it intersects William Cannon Drive. This geological spot known as Convict Hill, the same namesake as the road on which it sits, is the site of a quarry used for the current Capitol of Texas building more than 125 years ago. Convicts were used as free labor to mine more than 280,000 cubic feet of limestone.

Native Texas limestone, a sedimentary rock, was abundant in the area. In 1881, after the Capitol of Texas building burned down on Nov. 9, a Chicago builder named Gustav Wilke took on the massive project of constructing what would become the current Capitol building. Wilke insisted on using Texas limestone to construct the outer walls. The state leased 1,000 acres from Oak Hill resident W.K. Becket, who owned the land that became the Oatmanville quarry. A railroad was built near by the Austin and Oatmanville Railway Company to haul the quarry to the construction site.

Once the construction began, however, Wilke and his team realized the limestone was not an appropriate stone to use because it contained iron particles that would discolor the limestone over time. Wilke’s team decided to use the Oatmanville Quarry limestone for the foundation and basement walls, and red granite was brought in from nearby Marble Falls for the rest of the building.

The labor costs had risen significantly at the start of the 1880s, and to cut costs, the state opted for free convict labor to mine the quarry, a decision that was very unpopular by Austin-area labor unions, according to the online resource the Handbook of Texas. The convicts stayed at the site and were fed meager diets of cornbread, salt pork and coffee. Police and hound dogs guarded the workers at night to ensure prisoners did not escape.

Rumors spread in Oak Hill over the years that the reason the name Convict Hill stuck was not because of the use of convicts, but because during the strenuous labor, convicts died and were buried at the quarry.

Historians and geologists have surveyed the area using soil tests, however, to see if bodies were buried and have not found any proof that these rumors are in fact true, Anderson said.

The Capitol was completed in 1888, and shortly after, the railroad was abandoned. The town of Oak Hill continued to grow and add more development surrounding the quarry, but the quarry at Convict Hill no longer was in use. Today, Convict Hill is the site of residential development.



Here are the logging requirements. To log this cache, you must answer the following questions and complete a few small task. Email me the answers. Please do not post this is your log.


1.) Picture requirement: Please post a picture of yourself with the Hill in the background. (Not Required)

2.) Send answer to the following questions through my profile:
a. Walk to the hill. You can clearly see the different layers of rock. DO NOT remove any of the rock but see if you can find the Iron Ore Flakes in the limestone. What color is the surrounding limestone?

b. How many distinct layers of limestone do you see? This can be difficult - focus on the larger bands limestone for your answer.

c. Estimate the height of the largest layer of limestone, and give your answer. (This layer has is the brightest color.)

d. There is a large neighborhood on top of the limestone. Do you think limestone would be a good foundation for a house to sit upon? Please defend your answer.



Please do not log your find until email or a message with the requested proof of visit has been sent. Found logs without a corresponding email or message will be deleted without further warning.





This cache placed by a member of the TXGA
TXGA
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This cache placed by a
Houston Geocaching Society
Member
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Additional Hints (No hints available.)



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