Editing Indiana Limestone

{{short description|Limestone quarried in Indiana, United States}}
[[File:Indiana limestone - the nation's building stone, v. 2 - DPLA - 34ab77899a0747d1465810a8da6f02d7 (page 12).jpg|thumb|318x318px|Indiana limestone being quarried in the early 20th century.]]
[[File:P16066coll11 34741 full.jpg|thumb|Postcard of Bedford Quarries Co. in Bedford, Indiana]]
'''Indiana limestone''' (also known as '''Bedford limestone''') is a form of [[limestone]] used as a building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Some 35 of the 50 state capitol buildings in the United States are made of Indiana limestone,<ref name="limestone">{{cite web|url=http://www.limestonecountry.com/Limestone.html|title=Lawrence County Limestone History|publisher=Lawrence County, Indiana|access-date=2007-09-11|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061030001456/http://www.limestonecountry.com/Limestone.html|archive-date=2006-10-30}}</ref> as are the [[Empire State Building]], [[Biltmore Estate]], [[the Pentagon]] and [[Washington National Cathedral|National Cathedral]] in Washington, D.C..

Indiana limestone is a more common term for '''[[Salem Limestone]]''', a [[geological formation]] primarily quarried in south central [[Indiana]], USA, between the cities of [[Bloomington, Indiana|Bloomington]] and [[Bedford, Indiana|Bedford]]. It has been called the best [[quarry|quarried]] limestone in the United States. 

Indiana limestone, like all limestone, is a rock primarily formed of [[calcium carbonate]]. It was deposited over millions of years as marine fossils decomposed at the bottom of a shallow inland sea which covered most of the present-day Midwestern United States during the [[Mississippian age|Mississippian]] Period.

== History ==
[[File:Indiana limestone - the nation's building stone, v. 2 - DPLA - 34ab77899a0747d1465810a8da6f02d7 (page 7) (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|Indiana limestone loaded on freight trains in Bedford, Indiana.]]
[[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] were the first people to discover limestone in Indiana. Not long after they arrived, American [[settlers]] used this rock around their windows and doors and for memorials around the towns. The first [[quarry]] was started in 1827, and by 1929 [[Hoosier]] quarries yielded 12,000,000&nbsp;ft<sup>3</sup> (340,000 cubic meters) of usable stone. The expansion of the railroads brought great need for limestone to build bridges and tunnels and Indiana was the place to get it.

[[Architecture of the United States|American architecture]] of the late 19th and early 20th century included a lot of limestone detail work on buildings, but as architectural styles changed, so did the demand for limestone. Indiana limestone was officially designated as the state stone of Indiana by the Indiana General Assembly in 1971.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/ihb/emblems/embriver.html|title=Indiana State River and Indiana State Stone|access-date=2007-11-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218143055/http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/ihb/emblems/embriver.html|archive-date=2007-12-18|url-status=dead}}</ref> With the [[Arab Oil Embargo]] of 1973, the price of alternative building materials skyrocketed so Indiana limestone reemerged as an energy-efficient building material.<ref>{{cite web | url =http://iliai.com/index.php?pageId=44 | title = History of Indiana Limestone| access-date =2007-07-11}}</ref>

== Use in notable buildings ==
===Local===
[[File:Bedford, IN limestone, Indiana Statehouse.JPG|300px|right|thumb|Exhibit at the [[Indiana State House]] touting [[Bedford, Indiana]], as the "Limestone Capital of the World".]]Many of Indiana's official buildings, such as the State capitol building, the monuments in [[Downtown Indianapolis]], the [[Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law]], many university buildings, and the Indiana Government Center, and most of the state's 92 courthouses are all examples of Indiana architecture made with Indiana limestone. The majority of [[Indiana University, Bloomington]], was constructed out of limestone. 1959's architecturally significant [[St. Augustine's Episcopal Church, Gary|St. Augustine's Episcopal Church]], in [[Gary, Indiana]], uses Indiana limestone in the interior. The [[Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church (Merrillville, Indiana)|Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church in Merrillville, Indiana]], consecrated in 1991 and awarded a Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Masonry Design, uses Indiana limestone on its exterior facade.

===National===
Nationally, Indiana limestone has long been part of a [[high-end]] market. It has mostly been used on the exteriors of homes and commercial and government buildings. 

[[File:MercuryClock2013.jpg|thumb|alt=A large clock and stone sculptural group adorning the building's facade|''Glory of Commerce'', a celebrated sculptural group atop the façade of New York's [[Grand Central Terminal]], is made of Indiana Limestone.]] 

Many prominent public buildings in the United States — such as the [[Washington National Cathedral|National Cathedral]], [[Biltmore Estate]], [[Empire State Building]], [[the Pentagon]], [[the Crescent (Dallas)|The Crescent in Dallas]], and the [[Hotel Pennsylvania]] — feature Indiana limestone in their exteriors. Some 35 of the 50 state capitol buildings in the United States are made of Indiana limestone.<ref name=limestone/> It was used extensively in rebuilding Chicago after the [[Great Chicago Fire]] of 1871. The sculptural group atop the main façade of New York City's [[Grand Central Terminal]] — known as ''Glory of Commerce'' — is made of Indiana Limestone. (A work by [[Jules-Félix Coutan]], it includes representations of [[Minerva]], [[Hercules]], and [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]] and, at its unveiling in 1914, was considered the largest sculptural group in the world.<ref>Roberts, Sam (January 22, 2013), ''Grand Central: How a Train Station Transformed America'', Grand Central Publishing; pg 89. {{ISBN|978-1-4555-2595-9}}.</ref><ref>Bilotto, Gregory; DiLorenzo, Frank (2017), ''Building Grand Central Terminal'', Arcadia Publishing Incorporated; pg 2. {{ISBN|978-1-4396-6051-5}}.</ref>) 

The original 1930s buildings of [[Rockefeller Center]] use limestone from Bedford. In 1955 the [[Tennessee State Capitol]] exterior was renovated using Indiana limestone to replace the poorer-quality Tennessee limestone that had started to deteriorate. Some 15,000 cubic feet of Indiana limestone was used in the rebuilding of [[the Pentagon]] after the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pentagon|url=http://www.bybeestone.com/projects/pentagon/|website=Bybee Stone Company|access-date=19 January 2017}}</ref> The new [[Yankee Stadium]] in [[the Bronx]], which opened in 2009, extensively uses Indiana limestone paneling on its exterior facade. 

Indiana limestone has been particularly popular for the construction of [[university]] buildings. The [[Neo-Gothic]] campus of the [[University of Chicago]] is almost entirely constructed out of Indiana limestone; in keeping with the trend of post-Fire buildings using the material. The campus of [[Washington University in St. Louis]] – both for new construction and original buildings – makes use of Indiana limestone in its collegiate gothic architecture.<ref>{{cite web|title=Washington University|url=http://www.bybeestone.com/projects/washington-university/|website=Bybee Stone Company|access-date=19 January 2017}}</ref> Many buildings on the [[Campus of Michigan State University#North campus|north side]] of [[Michigan State University]] use Indiana limestone. The [[Cathedral of Learning]], a 42-story neo-gothic skyscraper that is the largest educational building in the Western Hemisphere, along with other nearby buildings of the [[University of Pittsburgh]], are clad in Indiana limestone. The St. Anthony Society Chapter House at [[Yale University]] also is built of Indiana limestone.<ref name=anthony>{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/07/09/100634210.pdf|title=VANDERBILT GIFT TO 'SHEFF'; Frederick W. to Build... | work=The New York Times | date=1913-07-09}}</ref> Many of the [[Gargoyle|gargoyles]] on the buildings of [[Princeton University]] were carved from Indiana limestone, including "Flute Player", located on the exterior of [[Princeton University Library|Firestone Library]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cantor|first=Laurel Masten|title=The Gargoyles of Princeton University|publisher=Princeton University, Office of Communications/Publications|year=1994|location=Princeton}}</ref>  Both structures of the [[Kenosha County Courthouse and Jail]] in [[Kenosha, Wisconsin]], were built out of the limestone. This stone was used as far north as the [[Hotel Macdonald]] in [[Edmonton]]. The [[Nebraska State Capitol]] is clad in Indiana Limestone, after native limestone was deemed too prone to weathering.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://capitol.nebraska.gov/building/history/nebraska-capitols//|title = History of the Nebraska Capitol Building}}</ref>

Because of the awareness of [[acid rain]], which wears Indiana Limestone relatively quickly, the stone is not as often used in monuments today as it was in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

===Canada===

The limestone has been used in buildings outside of the United States and namely in Canada:

* [[Canada Life Building]], Toronto 1931
* [[Canadian Pacific Building (Toronto)|Canadian Pacific Building]], Toronto - recladded in 1929
* [[Fairmont Royal York]], Toronto 1931
* [[Lillian Massey Building]], Toronto 1913
* [[Toronto Harbour Commission Building]] 1917 (mix of Indiana And Queenston limestone)
* [[Union Station (Toronto)]]  1927 (mix of Indiana And Queenston limestone)

== See also ==
*[[List of types of limestone]]
*[[Statue of Hope]] — Limestone Memorial Statue, [[Friendship, Indiana]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*Patton, J.B. and Carr, D.D. (1982), "The Salem Limestone in the Indiana Building-Stone District"; ''Ind. Dept. of Nat. Res. Geol Surv. Occasional Paper 38'', 31 p.

== External links ==
{{commons category|Indiana Limestone}}
*[http://mcpl.info/resources/indiana-bedrock Indiana Bedrock]
*[http://igs.indiana.edu/geology/minRes/indianaLimestone/index.cfm Indiana Geological Survey explanation of Indiana limestone]
*[http://www.iliai.com/ Indiana limestone Institute of America]
*[http://quarriesandbeyond.org/states/in/pdf/indiana_limestone_the_aristocrat_of_building_materials_1920.pdf ''Indiana Limestone:  The Aristocrat of Building Materials''], June 1920, Vol. 1, 6th Edition, Indiana Limestone Quarrymen's Association, Bedford, Indiana.
*[http://quarriesandbeyond.org/states/in/indiana.html Indiana stone quarry information on Stone Quarries and Beyond]

[[Category:Geologic formations of Indiana|Limestone]]
[[Category:Limestone formations of the United States]]
[[Category:Building stone]]
[[Category:Symbols of Indiana|Limestone]]