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Court House

this site was last updated on Thursday, 03 October 2019


“OOLITIC LIMESTONE."
The Material of Which the Winneshiek County Court House is to be Built.

In reply to inquiries most naturally made, we make answer that the exterior of the new Court House will be built of oolitic limestone. The Standard dictionary defines the term as indicating:

A granular variety of limestone made up of minute, nearly spherical concretions about some minute pre-existing particles, and resembling in structure the roe of a fish, used for building and valued on account of the ease with which it may be worked, and its soft and pleasing color. Owing to their free-working qualities these stones are also known as oolitic free-stones. The Bedford Oolitic occurs in the sub-carboniferous in Lawrence county, Indiana, and is used extensively throughout the United States.

The operators of the Bedford quarries advertise in the State Register and Leader of last Sunday, claiming the largest quarries of that kind of stone in the world. In their ad they say that they are to furnish stone this year for six large buildings in this state, the Winneshiek county court house being one. The others are:
  • Polk county Court House, Des Moines.
  • State University, Iowa City.
  • Engineering Hall, Iowa College, Ames.
  • High School, Des Moines.
  • Carnegie Library, Davenport.
The company is large enough to maintain offices in New York City, Cleveland, O., Chicago, Ills., besides those at the quarries and mills at Bedford, Ind.

Source: Decorah Republican Apr. 2, 1903 Page 4 Col 2

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this page was last updated on Thursday, 03 October 2019