Pennslyvania bluestone is used in creating garden walkways.
Bluestone, a catch-all term, refers to a variety of sandstones and limestones used typically in construction and landscaping. The most commonly recognized bluestones pave garden paths and support buildings, but other types of bluestone are used in jewelry and even at Stonehenge. This naturally leads to some confusion about the term, but in all cases, the blueish colors have inspired the name.
Pennsylvania Bluestone
Mined throughout Pennsylvania and New York, Pennsylvania bluestone cuts nicely along a plane, providing relatively flat, even surfaces and making it desirable as a construction and landscaping material. A type of sandstone, this type of bluestone formed from sedimentary deposits accumulated during the Devonian period 345 to 370 million years ago. It can have many colors besides blue, including green, pink and even lilac.
Commercial Varieties of Pennsylvania Bluestone
Because it splits on a plane and is a strong material, bluestone makes an excellent construction material. In general, it is commercially classed in two categories: dimensional architecture-grade block and flagstones used mostly for paving. Natural cleft bluestone finds its way into many gardens, but commercial patio stones called thermal bluestones are typically cut to uniform dimensions and heat-treated for a smooth surface.
Shenandoah Valley Bluestone
A different variety of bluestone has been mined in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia since the 1700s for building materials. A type of limestone, it formed in the Ordovician age more than 400 million years ago in deep water where the sun did not penetrate, producing its dark color. The Fraizer Quarry in Harrisonburg, Virginia, is the last quarry to mine this stone which graces many buildings of nearby James Madison University.
Preseli bluestone
Sometimes called the Preseli bluestone, a third type of bluestone forms the inner circle of Stonehenge. These heavy stones are dolerite, a volcanic rock that contains feldspar and mica. When polished, it resembles the night sky, an important aspect perhaps if Stonehenge was an observatory as commonly believed. The stones were quarried approximately 250 miles away in the Preseli quarry in Wales. Stones from the same quarry are used to make jewelry.
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