Everything must have a solid foundation. The Hancock County Courthouse is no exception. The second oldest courthouse in the Commonwealth of Kentucky is located in Hawesville on the Ohio River. Its construction was started in 1865 and completed in 1867 and is a example of its period, suggesting the Greek Revival temple form. The block foundation is constructed from sandstone from the existing hillside. This material was used for the natural resource.
Quarry
There is many methods of quarries were used. The one here at Hawesville was ledge quarries. The sandstone exposed along the hillside, were quarried for usable base of rocks. The exposed stone many times had well defined fractures, both horizontal and vertical, that allowed for rough rectangular blocks to be split off. Generally, only the top few layers of the surface ledge was quarried. Ledge quarry generally supplied stone for local buildings like foundation.
Sandstone
Sandstone is composed of mineral grains (commonly quartz) cemented together by silicia, iron oxide, or calcium carbonate. Sandstones are typically white, gray, brown, red. The red and brown sandstone is colored by iron oxide impurities. Most sandstones feel gritty, some are easily crushed and break up to form sand. Sandstones are very resistant to erosion and form bluffs, cliffs, ridges.
Age of the sandstone
In Hancock County, consolidate sedimentary rocks of the Mississippian through the Pennsylvanian age and from unconsolidated sediments of Quaternary age. Geologists call the oldest rocks found at the surface, Tar Springs Sandstone (Caseyville Formation). At the end of the Mississippian Period, 320 million years ago, the seas receded and sediments of the Pennsylvanian Period were deposited.
Now for a little question and answers send to the email address not online. THANKS
1. What is the color of the sandstone block? What causes this color ?
2. How far away is the quarry from the courthouse?
3. If you walk inside the fence to find the benchmarks on the NW or NE sides. Check out the texture and workmanship of the block. How does it feel and look?
4. (Optional) Pic of yourself at the courthouse.
BONUS two bench markers on the NE and NW corners of the courthouse.
