Historic Aquia Sandstone Quarry Site Soon to Be Park Site

 

In 1792, construction of the White House began. It is built of sandstone from the old Aquia quarry on Government Island, Va. This sandstone, or at least some of this sandstone, does not hold up well to the vicissitudes of climate. Paint helps, though. A paint removal project in the 1970s identified 43 coats of white paint on the presidential home.

Government Island is 17-acres of woods, marshes and stone in Aquia Creek, Va., a tributary of the tidal area of the Potomac. Aquia sandstone, known as freestone in Colonial times is composed of quartz sand, pebbles and clay pellets held together by silica. It was quarried on the island by the late 1690s and was used to build Christ Church in Alexandria, George Mason’s Gunston Hall and Mount Vernon. A century later, the federal government purchased the quarry to supply sandstone for building projects in the nation’s capital. The White House and the original section of the U.S. Capitol used the stone. To cut and shape the stone, workers employed pick-axes, mauls and wedges.

Government Island is on the National Register of Historic Places. Now, after years of planning, Stafford County, Va. officials have submitted plans to build a 1,600-foot boardwalk out to the island and improve and extend the 1.5-mile trail around the island to a two-mile route. The plan also includes the construction of a parking lot near Coal Landing and Confederate Way, a restroom facility and park benches. Signage will be placed along the trail to explain the island?EUR??,,????'???s history and the quarry operations. Visitors will also be able to see some of the quarry walls that have remained in tact over the decades.