NT Crab Orchard Stone

[Corduroy Frog]

Focus on our Tennessee friend Rita B -who was good enough to host a gathering a few years ago.  Rita lives in Cumberland County - site of an unusual geological instance.

Not far from her is a tiny town of Crab Orchard.  Over 100 years ago, an usual sandstone rock was discovered near the town, and was called "Crab Orchard Stone."  This is sandstone - so brittle that you can break it with your bare hands.  In fact if you handle it, it might even break without effort at all.

Geologically speaking, limestone rock is much harder - impossible to break without a jackhammer or something really tough.  However, rainwater will dissolve limestone, and leave sandstone intact.  This gives rise to limestone caves, such as Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.  There are more limestone caves in Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Alabama than in the rest of the world combined.

All this to say that the brittle limestone, if sliced by a saw, can cover a frame, and will not break at all.  Ever.

Crab Orchard sandstone is light reddish, with streaks of light brown, and blue, purple and yellow.  In the 1920s, this gorgeous rock was shipped all over the world because of its beauty.  By the 1950s, Crab Orchard stone was pretty much mined out.  There are more buildings covered with this stone in Cumberland County than anywhere else.  Some of it is in Nashville, and a few other towns in the United States.  If you get off the Interstate 40 in Cumberland County and take the old road, U S 70, you will see several older homes and buildings with colorful coverings of sandstone.  There is probably the most in Crossville at the county courthouse.

Not a tax topic - but perhaps a refreshing journey into the Sunny South.  If any of you are close to Manchester TN, drop me a message before you come, and I'll take you to a good meal.

[Catherine]

I wish I'd known back when Rita held that lovely get-together. I'd have done some more-careful looking in my driving around. 

Thanks for posting this!