Pine Lake Masonry: Part I

As I've been walking around the city I've been paying attention to chimneys and house foundations. I've noticed how the stonework seems to have changed with the decades. Here's how:

The earliest stonework features rocks with a reddish tint. I think it's granite, but I'm no geologist.

Here's a closeup:

Many of the 1930s cottages feature the red stone-- including my own home. Here are photos of some houses that use the red stone:

This House is on Oak Road

This is the old Boy Scout hut on Oak

This house is on Forrest between Oak and Spring Street. Note the pier.

Here's a better shot of the chimney

This House is on Spring Street

So is This One

My own house, which was built in 1936, has a chimney made of the red stone; the hearth is made of the same stone. The red stone was also used in an old barbecue grill on my property:

 My foundation is made of another stone, however:

This looks like river rock to me, mixed with concrete. I suspect it came from Snapfinger Creek.

It's hard to be sure because so many rocks have been dumped into the creek over the decades, but they look similar to the native stone.

Is This Limestone?

... and the rocks in Snapfinger creek...

... although some of the stone in the creek looks like the red rocks!

Note the White Rocks in the Background

Where's a geologist when you need one?

In the late 1930s or early 1940s the red rock was replaced by granite quarried at Stone Mountain. I'll talk about that in another post.