Building Stones of the Charlottesville Downtown Walking Mall, Part 1

Geologist Callan Bentley of PVCC points out some of the cool geology to be seen in the western half of downtown Charlottesville's pedestrian walking mall.

[@macking104]

“York Place is a 2.5 story building located on the Downtown Mall between First Street S and Second Street SW. It contains a collection of restaurants, shops, and 20 rental apartments. It was developed by Chuck Lewis and is owned by York Property, which keeps its headquarters in the building. The building is named after York, an African-American explorer on the Lewis and Clark expedition. It features plaques, artwork, and boulders commemorating the expedition…” “The building is adorned with a stonewalkway and boulders that signify the states the Corps traveled through on their journey out West.”

[@joshuahunter3708]

This is awesome. I would totally pay for a geological tour of building stones. There's a fascinating book called Stories in Stone by David Williams that goes through both the historical geology and history of building stones. David also mentions in the book that he does geological tours of buildings. But he lives in Seattle and I live in Arlington Virginia. Even though it might be hard to figure out, the full context would be really interesting. Where did the stones come from? How old are they? How long ago were they quarried? How were they cut and shaped? How much do they weigh, and how did they transport them to a 'not so easy to reach' place like Charlottesville? Which rocks have traveled the furthest? I would find the answer to each one of those questions interesting.