Medina sandstone

[2] The stone is near the surface and easily quarried in a narrow band about 32 miles long that follows the path of the Erie Canal between Rochester and Lockport in Western New York.

Immigrant labor played an important role in operating the quarries and workers came in large numbers from England, Ireland, France,Germany, Poland and Italy.

[4] This sandstone was employed widely for “street work” such as cobblestones and curbs and the higher quality stone was used for ashlar blocks for foundations, walls and other structural components of homes, churches, and other buildings.

It was reorganized as the Orleans County Quarry Company, but the demand for sandstone was severely curtailed by World War I, the 1918 pandemic and growing application of concrete building blocks and asphalt paving of roads.

Several Orleans County sandstone buildings can be viewed online through the Empire State Immersive Experiences website.

The buildings inducted include: Friday, Jim, 2021, "History of Sandstone in Orleans County NY", Library of Congress Control Number 2021901672