Almshouse Amphibole Schist EarthCache

Almshouse Amphibole Schist
A Native Maryland Building Stone

NOTE: If your device can not display the entire
description, you can find the logging questions listed in the hint.

This EarthCache is located on private property with permission. Be respectful at all times.
You may enter church grounds for the purpose of answering the questions,
but please DO NOT enter the property during church services or functions, or at night.

What is a building stone? Well, any type of dense, massive rock suitable for use in construction can be defined as a building stone.

This Earthcache is one in a series of Earthcaches about Building Stones native to Maryland. Each one highlights a specific type of building stone, its origin, and an example of its use. Most of the quarry locations are closed or on private land nowadays, but you can still enjoy the unique properties of each by visiting a building, monument, or bridge constructed using them. I've done extensive research to identify with reasonable certainty the specific quarry or area that supplied the material for each of the places you will visit in this series.

Maryland has several distinct physio-graphic regions. Physio-graphic regions are broad-scale areas based on terrain texture, rock type, and geologic structure and history. In the US, they are generally broken down into three tiers: Divisions, Provinces, and Regions. Almshouse Amphibole Schist comes from the area known as the Upland Section of the Piedmont Plateau Province.

This fine church is built from a local stone traditionally classified as an "Amphibole Schist". The stone originated in a private quarry about 11 miles northwest of here in the area of Westminster. This stone isn't nearly as well known as many others in this series, and doesn't have a colloquial name. I'm calling it Almshouse Amphibole Schist.

This stone is a metamorphic rock, meaning it was transformed by heat and pressure from one type of rock into another. By some accounts, this is a "metamorphosed amygdaloid". Let's break that down a little. Many rocks form with gas bubbles in them, forming cavities (think lava!). An amygdule is "a gas cavity or vesicle in an igneous rock which is filled with secondary minerals." Such a rock is said to be amygdaloidal or amygdular. Amygdules form when fluids containing dissolved minerals flow through the rocks and deposit the minerals as solids in the vesicles. This material was then exposed to great heat and pressure, transforming it into its present state. It is considered an Amphibole, which means it contains a mix of igneous (made of lava or magma) rocks, and also a schist since it contains more than 50% elongated or platy minerals. Most schists form from sedimentary material, so as a schist of igneous origin, it is considerably rarer.

As a building material, it isn't well known or widespread, simply because there isn't a lot of it, and there is a lot of variation in the appearance of it. It was used locally because it was convenient, and occocasionally found use in other building projects. When freshly quarried, "it is very easily worked, being carved in almost any form with ordinary tools. On exposure [to air] it hardens and becomes a very serviceable stone."

Stone Source Location

The Building
This building is the All Saints' Episcopal Church. In 1891 William Keyser, a wealthy Baltimore industrialist, built the Church as a memorial to his mother, Elizabeth Wyman Keyser. In 1893 the unusual separate bell tower was built. The church was designed by the firm of Longfellow, Alden and Harlow, of Boston, and constructed by Philip Walsh and Sons of Baltimore.  The red tile roof has been replaced, but is in the style of the original building.

All Saints' Episcopal Church

The Quarry
The quarry is located on the property of the Carroll County Almshouse and Farm in Westminster. Now a living history museum, the almshouse was built in 1852 to house the poor of the area. The quarry mostly supplied stone for the almshouse property itself (you can see it everywhere on the property) but it also occasionally supplied stone to other locations as a source of supplemental income. The Almshouse received about $50 for the stone quarried for the church. It was also used in construction of the President's House at nearby McDaniel College, and you can see it used in various other buildings in and around Westminster. Unlike most quarries in this series, it was not operated as a commercial quarry enterprise. The quarry site has been converted into an amphitheater on the grounds of the farm and you can visit in-season.

Almshouse Quarry (now an amphitheater) Today

Research Notes:
Most EarthCaches in this series involve historically well known material and buildings. This one is an exception. I was browsing an old book from 1893 that mentioned the Almshouse had a quarry and passing mention of the "Keyser Memorial Chirch". The church mentioned was a different name, but I quickly found that it still existed and contacted their leadership. The parish archivist and I had a look and actually found the original 1892 receipts for the stone and the quarry work. I also did some research into the almshouse and found it too still exists and is in operation. Some emails and phone calls confirmed that there was indeed an old quarry site on the property, and I soon found myself touring the grounds off-season with the current caretaker. Samples compared from the quarry and the church confirmed the already strong evidence. I'm pleased to have brought the two together again, and filled in a bit of the history of both places. The Church archivist and the Almshouse caretaker have my warmest thanks for their assistance.

To log this Earthcache:
Email me with the answers to the following questions. They can be found using the information above and by inspection of the building.

1. Look closely at the gray-green amphibole schist that makes up the majority of the stone used to construct the church. Describe what you see. Is there any layering pattern? what direction is the grain?

2. What different colors can you see in the stone?

3. Compare the stone used in the church building to the detached bell tower. Do you think the stone came from the same quarry as the church stone?

4. At the main entrance to the church under the covered drive (GZ), you will see three different stones: the main building stone, the stone used for the trim in the building, and another stone used for the entrance steps. Describe the color, texture, and grain patterns of these 2 other stones compared to the amphibole schist.

5. What is an amygdule?

6. Does the stone appear durable or do you see evidence that it is deteriorating? Describe any evidence you see.

7. Optional: Post a photo in your log of you, with your GPS if possible, with the church bell tower in the background.

   Logs containing spoiler pictures will be deleted without warning.
   You may post your log at any time, but emailed answers must follow within 7 days or your log will be deleted.

References:
Maryland Geological Survey, Volume 2, Baltimore, 1898
All Saints' Episcopal Church historical archives
Some images from Google Maps and Wikimedia Commons