Mining Association of Nova Scotia Profile picture
Feb 29, 2020 14 tweets 32 min read Read on X
We love getting questions about mining, minerals and geology! We were asked where the stone was quarried for the old #Bridgewater post office on King St. Here’s our answer:
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #capebreton #NS #CB @BernJordanMP @MarkFurey1 @TownBridgewater @DesBrisayMuseum ImageImage
The old #Bridgewater post office was designed by David Ewart and built in 1909 by builders Faulkner and MacDonald. It was built in the federal style, with the ground level windows featuring rounded tops and stone arches.
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia @BernJordanMP @MarkFurey1 Image
It also has a Dentilled Cornice, which is the small tooth like decorative block design that crowns the building. ("Dentil" comes from the Latin word for tooth.)
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #capebreton #NS #CB @BernJordanMP @MarkFurey1 @TownBridgewater @DesBrisayMuseum Image
It used to have a copper-sheathed clock tower but it was removed in the 1950s. It served as a post office until 2010 and it has commercial space and some apartments now.
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #capebreton #NS #CB @BernJordanMP @MarkFurey1 @TownBridgewater @DesBrisayMuseum Image
The foundation is made of local granite and the face is red sandstone. The municipal heritage listing says the sandstone was likely quarried in the #AnnapolisValley. This is where our challenge starts!
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #capebreton #NS #CB @BernJordanMP @MarkFurey1 Image
There were some historical sandstone quarries in the Valley but they were generally small, short-lived, poorly-documented and relatively poor quality. They sometimes just operated for the duration of one project.
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #capebreton #NS #CB @BernJordanMP Image
This makes it hard to determine whether the #Bridgewater post office stone came from there.
Almost all quarried sandstone in #NovaScotia came from the #Amherst, Wallace and Pictou areas.
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #capebreton #NS #CB @BernJordanMP @MarkFurey1 @TownBridgewater Image
#Wallace was by far the biggest producer. Its stone is in many historical #NovaScotia buildings such as the legislature, and even in #Ottawa’s #parliamentbuildings. Wallace is still in operation today.
#nspoli #cbpoli #capebreton #NS #CB @BernJordanMP @MarkFurey1 @TownBridgwater Image
The #Amherst Red Stone Quarry had distinctive sandstone that looks like a close match to the red stone in the #Bridgewater post office. The quarry operated on James Donalds' farm, east of Willow St. from 1889-1914.
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #capebreton #NS #CB ImageImage
It provided sandstone for many #Amherst heritage buildings including Bank of #NovaScotia (built 1907), Trinity-St. Stephen’s (1906) and the First Baptist Church (1895). Today, the Amherst Red Stone Quarry is a lovely pond in a field (pictures below).
#nspoli #cbpoli ImageImage
There was also some reddish sandstone quarried in #Pictou County but it is a much duller red than the #Amherst rock – not a likely match for the #Bridgewater post office.
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #capebreton #NS #CB @BernJordanMP @MarkFurey1 @TownBridgewater @DesBrisayMuseum Image
The #Bridgewater post office appears to be in good shape which suggests that the stone is good quality and came from a site like the #Amherst quarry, not the #AnnapolisValley.
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #capebreton #NS #CB @BernJordanMP @MarkFurey1 @TownBridgewater Image
Unfortunately, based on the info we found, we are not able to say definitively where the stone for the #Bridgewater post office was quarried, but its quality and colour suggest the #Amherst Red Stone Quarry was the source.
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia @BernJordanMP @MarkFurey1 Image
If anyone knows anything more about the post office, we would welcome any additional thoughts!
#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #capebreton #NS #CB @BernJordanMP @MarkFurey1 @TownBridgewater @DesBrisayMuseum Image

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More from @MiningNS

Feb 25, 2021
@nsgov announced new rebates for electric vehicles yesterday. Mining makes #greentech like electric cars possible because they are mostly made of minerals and metals.
#nspoli @KeithIrvingNS @IainTRankin @NS_Energy_Mines @ns_environment @ChenderMLA @AllanMacMaster @MLAChuckPorter Image
For example, an e-car has 183 pounds of copper wiring in it because copper is used in every major component from the motor to the inverter and the electrical wiring. There is about four times more copper in an e-car than in a car with an internal combustion engine.
There are about 400 electric cars on Nova Scotia roads - a total of over 73,000 pounds of copper!
An electric car uses 25-50 grams of silver, so Nova Scotia’s 400 e-cars contain about 15,000 grams of it.
Read 9 tweets
Sep 23, 2020
The Morris Street Engine House has been declared a municipal heritage property!
#Halifax’s Fire Station #2, as it is also called, was built 1907-08 of reinforced concrete.
Here's the story!
#nspoli @HFXFireHistory @HRMFireNews @hfxfire @HFXFirefighters @hfxgov @MikeSavageHFX
Concrete is a mixture of aggregates and paste. The aggregates are sand and gravel or crushed stone; the paste is water and portland cement. (The terms cement and concrete are often used interchangeably, but cement is actually an ingredient of concrete...
#nspoli
...Cement is the glue that holds concrete together.)
Reinforced concrete means the concrete is poured over a frame, usually steel bars, that give the structure greater strength.
#nspoli
Read 12 tweets
Sep 21, 2020
We love getting questions about mining, minerals and geology! We were asked about sinkholes and whether they are a risk when walking in the woods.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton @oxfordsinkhole ImageImage
The short answer is yes, sinkholes are real but no, they are not a major risk and should not prevent you from enjoying outdoor activities.
Most natural sinkholes are caused by groundwater naturally eroding rocks like gypsum, salt and limestone which are water-soluble.
#nspoli Image
The water erodes the rock, leaving an underground cavern. Eventually, the weight of the rock and earth above the cavern causes the sinkhole to form. Sinkholes can form either gradually (i.e. a small depression appears and perhaps grows larger over time) or by sudden collapse. Image
Read 18 tweets
Sep 20, 2020
We love getting questions about mining, minerals and geology! We were asked about the historic #NewCampbellton coal mine in #VictoriaCounty.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton #nshistory
@JaimeBattiste ImageImage
The New Campbellton coal mine was opened in 1862 by Charles J. Campbell, a former Member of Parliament, Member of the Legislative Assembly and executive council member. The community had been named Kelly’s Cove but was changed to New Campbellton in 1862 in honour of Mr. Campbell. Image
A sample of New Campbellton’s coal was sent to the 1865 Dublin Exhibition and “was very favorably noticed by the Judges,” according to a report.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #capebreton #nshistory Image
Read 18 tweets
Sep 19, 2020
Mining built #NovaScotia!
#Halifax was founded in 1749 and its first court house is reported to have been built by 1754 on the northeastern corner of Buckingham + Argyle streets. After the building burned in 1789, the courts were temporarily housed in various buildings.
#nspoli ImageImage
In April 1851 a bill to provide Halifax with a county court house was passed. Mr. H.G. Hill, a prominent #Halifax architect, prepared a plan for a wooden building.
However, since the records of the county, wills, deeds and other papers of public office were...
#nspoli #novascotia Image
...to be stored in the court house, it was important that the building be fire-proof. Also, a number of serious fires in #Halifax in 1857 led to the passage of a bylaw that required large buildings be made of stone or brick, so Hill's plans for a wooden building were abandoned. Image
Read 10 tweets
Sep 18, 2020
The Sullivan Creek #coal mine, before and after!
It's one of several mines reclaimed around #AlderPoint #CapeBreton in the late 1900s/early 2000s - examples of how mining makes temporary use of land and then land can be used other ways.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia @JaimeBattiste ImageImage
The first mine in the area was the Scotia Mine, or #NovaScotia Steel & Coal Company No. 4 Colliery, on Toronto Road, which operated on the Sydney Main (Harbour) Seam from 1915 to 1921.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia @JaimeBattiste ImageImage
Coal quality and structural issues (including water inflow) plague the Harbour Seam west of Florence so upon closure of the colliery, production on the Harbour Seam was limited to the Company’s No. 3 Colliery in Florence, which had opened in 1902...
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia ImageImage
Read 19 tweets

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