What's going on with these weird stone pillars in NYC? | Geology of Grand Central Terminal
Along a nature trail in Van Cortlandt park lies 13 strange 10-foot tall stone pillars in a row. Are they a wannabe NYC version of Stonehenge, or some strange graveyard of large, blank gravestones? Neither - they actually have a very interesting history relating to one of the most famous buildings in New York City (and maybe the world). Something I love to learn and talk about is geology, but I get the most excited when I can connect geologic history to human history! Before the stones were chosen that would ultimately build Grand Central Terminal, there were 15 10-foot tall stone slabs set up in Van Cortlandt park along what is now an abandoned railroad track of the Old Putnam Line (now a nature trail). Grand Central terminal opened in 1913, where originally it had been Grand Central Depot. With the electrification of the railroad in the early 1900s, along with some other safety and practicality reasons, a new large terminal had to be designed and built to keep up with the times. The New York Central Railroad (now called Metro-North) decided to try out different stone types from quarries around the U.S. to see how they would weather in the elements. In the end, two stone types were chosen - the 330 million year old Indiana Limestone that formed in a shallow sea when marine life dominated the planet , and the 600 million year old Stony Creek Granite, which formed as magma slowly cooled in the earth’s crust, before many continents even existed yet on Earth... So next time you visit New York City, take a moment to appreciate that the stones that built this ~109 year old building are products of millions of years of geologic processes. Thanks for watching! Some links are included below of sources I used for info or photos, or sources I think you would like if you’re interested in reading more about this fascinating subject. subscribe for more vids ➭ https://bit.ly/geobeck Reading a 100 year old science book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzo7Lwr5ij0 Ancient fossil forest in Upstate NY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjCIHHex9jk&t=436s The world's oldest rock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9B-49TMcSw&t=25s Coffee and volcanoes are related?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4on0kZtBM-k&t=7s Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:27 Why put up the pillars? 1:27 Different stones = different results 3:33 The stone types 4:36 The timeline 4:57 ding ding ding, we have a winner 5:11 Indiana Limestone 8:15 Stony Creek Granite 10:09 After 1913 11:08 little happy rant Links: https://www.mas.org/news/monument-of-the-month-grand-central-stones https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/monuments/1540 https://untappedcities.com/2018/02/02/test-stone-pillars-for-grand-central-terminal-are-restored-in-van-cortlandt-park/ https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/nyregion/the-birth-of-grand-central-terminal-100-years-later.html https://igws.indiana.edu/IGNIS/GeoNamesDetails.cfm?ID=1911EF5D-8420-46BB-9A84-42E6A53E2FD2 https://geokansas.ku.edu/oolite https://www.branford-ct.gov/history/brief-history-stony-creek-quarries https://untappedcities.com/2020/09/24/stone-creek-quarry-granite-new-york/ http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/bronx.html https://forgotten-ny.com/1999/05/the-ny-central-putnam-branch-in-the-bronx/ https://www.grandcentralterminal.com/history/ https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Story-of-Stony-Creek-Quarry-in-Branford-began-11559598.php https://stonycreekquarry.com/about/history/ https://www.connecticutmag.com/travel/day-trips/hiking-the-stony-creek-quarry-preserve-in-branford/article_e8f3158a-7607-11eb-ba46-43df2a70a482.html https://www.alexstrekeisen.it/english/sedi/oolite.php oolite photo of oolitic limestone from Indiana https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oolitic_limestone_(Salem_Limestone,_Middle_Mississippian;_southern_Indiana,_USA)_1.jpg
Along a nature trail in Van Cortlandt park lies 13 strange 10-foot tall stone pillars in a row. Are they a wannabe NYC version of Stonehenge, or some strange graveyard of large, blank gravestones? Neither - they actually have a very interesting history relating to one of the most famous buildings in New York City (and maybe the world). Something I love to learn and talk about is geology, but I get the most excited when I can connect geologic history to human history! Before the stones were chosen that would ultimately build Grand Central Terminal, there were 15 10-foot tall stone slabs set up in Van Cortlandt park along what is now an abandoned railroad track of the Old Putnam Line (now a nature trail). Grand Central terminal opened in 1913, where originally it had been Grand Central Depot. With the electrification of the railroad in the early 1900s, along with some other safety and practicality reasons, a new large terminal had to be designed and built to keep up with the times. The New York Central Railroad (now called Metro-North) decided to try out different stone types from quarries around the U.S. to see how they would weather in the elements. In the end, two stone types were chosen - the 330 million year old Indiana Limestone that formed in a shallow sea when marine life dominated the planet , and the 600 million year old Stony Creek Granite, which formed as magma slowly cooled in the earth’s crust, before many continents even existed yet on Earth... So next time you visit New York City, take a moment to appreciate that the stones that built this ~109 year old building are products of millions of years of geologic processes. Thanks for watching! Some links are included below of sources I used for info or photos, or sources I think you would like if you’re interested in reading more about this fascinating subject. subscribe for more vids ➭ https://bit.ly/geobeck Reading a 100 year old science book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzo7Lwr5ij0 Ancient fossil forest in Upstate NY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjCIHHex9jk&t=436s The world's oldest rock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9B-49TMcSw&t=25s Coffee and volcanoes are related?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4on0kZtBM-k&t=7s Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:27 Why put up the pillars? 1:27 Different stones = different results 3:33 The stone types 4:36 The timeline 4:57 ding ding ding, we have a winner 5:11 Indiana Limestone 8:15 Stony Creek Granite 10:09 After 1913 11:08 little happy rant Links: https://www.mas.org/news/monument-of-the-month-grand-central-stones https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/monuments/1540 https://untappedcities.com/2018/02/02/test-stone-pillars-for-grand-central-terminal-are-restored-in-van-cortlandt-park/ https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/nyregion/the-birth-of-grand-central-terminal-100-years-later.html https://igws.indiana.edu/IGNIS/GeoNamesDetails.cfm?ID=1911EF5D-8420-46BB-9A84-42E6A53E2FD2 https://geokansas.ku.edu/oolite https://www.branford-ct.gov/history/brief-history-stony-creek-quarries https://untappedcities.com/2020/09/24/stone-creek-quarry-granite-new-york/ http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/bronx.html https://forgotten-ny.com/1999/05/the-ny-central-putnam-branch-in-the-bronx/ https://www.grandcentralterminal.com/history/ https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Story-of-Stony-Creek-Quarry-in-Branford-began-11559598.php https://stonycreekquarry.com/about/history/ https://www.connecticutmag.com/travel/day-trips/hiking-the-stony-creek-quarry-preserve-in-branford/article_e8f3158a-7607-11eb-ba46-43df2a70a482.html https://www.alexstrekeisen.it/english/sedi/oolite.php oolite photo of oolitic limestone from Indiana https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oolitic_limestone_(Salem_Limestone,_Middle_Mississippian;_southern_Indiana,_USA)_1.jpg