Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Fencepost limestone
Fencepost limestone, Post Rock limestone, or Stone Post is a stone bed in the Great Plains, known for its historic use as fencing and construction material in north-central Kansas resulting in a unique cultural expression. The source of this stone is the topmost layer of the Greenhorn Limestone formation. It is a regional marker bed as well as a valued construction material of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Kansas. This stone was very suitable for early construction in treeless settlements and it adds a notable rust orange tint to the region's many historic stone buildings. But the most famous use is seen in the countless miles of stone posts lining country roads and highways. This status gives rise to such regional appellations as Stone Post Country, Post Rock Scenic Byway, and The Post Rock Capital of Kansas. This rustic quality finds Fencepost limestone still used in Kansas landscaping today.
The Fencepost limestone is a relatively thin, resistant, and recognizable bed of stone that forms the middle range of bluffs in the Smoky Hills region of north-central Kansas, ranging from the Nebraska border near Mahaska, Kansas, about 200 miles southwest to within a few miles of Dodge City, Kansas, where it is seen in the buildings of the farms and cities of the area.
The Fencepost limestone is unique for its contribution to the cultural landscape of Kansas, appearing as miles of stone fence posts lining austere fields and pastures. The drier climate coupled with the grazing habits of buffalo and the prairie burning practices of Plains Indians meant that the first European settlers to the region did not have enough local timber for construction and fencing. However, a suitable, easy to quarry stone was available. No other "area of the world has used a single rock formation so extensively for fencing."
The source of this tough chalky limestone is the widespread and persistent topmost bed of the Greenhorn Limestone. The Fencepost limestone is the exceptionally wide ranging marker of the conformal contact between the Pfeifer Shale, which is the uppermost member Greenhorn Limestone below, and the Fairport Chalk, the lowest member of the Carlile Shale formation above.
This stone was first scientifically mentioned as the "Fencepost limestone" by F. W. Cragin in 1896 when he originally attempted to name it Downs limestone. The Fencepost bed has also been called Benton limestone for its prominence as a marker for the now generally obsolete Benton Group classification.
Reporting on the "Fence-Post Horizon" in 1897, W. N. Logan noted fifty thousand stone posts in Mitchell and Lincoln counties alone. Since then, the informal name "Fencepost limestone bed" has come to have a stature equal that of the adjacent members. The greatest use of the Fencepost limestone, for fencing and building, was from 1884 to 1920.
Effective July 1, 2018, Kansas Legislation HB 2650 designated Greenhorn Limestone formation, specifically "the famous "post rock" limestone" bed of that unit, to be the state rock of Kansas.
When Europeans settled in north-central Kansas, they found vast grasslands. With few trees available, they quarried a thin, shallow bed of Cretaceous limestone for buildings, bridges, and fenceposts. No area of the world has used a single rock formation so extensively for fencing. Today that rock layer is called Fencepost limestone and north-central Kansas is known as the Land of the Post Rock.
Hub AI
Fencepost limestone AI simulator
(@Fencepost limestone_simulator)
Fencepost limestone
Fencepost limestone, Post Rock limestone, or Stone Post is a stone bed in the Great Plains, known for its historic use as fencing and construction material in north-central Kansas resulting in a unique cultural expression. The source of this stone is the topmost layer of the Greenhorn Limestone formation. It is a regional marker bed as well as a valued construction material of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Kansas. This stone was very suitable for early construction in treeless settlements and it adds a notable rust orange tint to the region's many historic stone buildings. But the most famous use is seen in the countless miles of stone posts lining country roads and highways. This status gives rise to such regional appellations as Stone Post Country, Post Rock Scenic Byway, and The Post Rock Capital of Kansas. This rustic quality finds Fencepost limestone still used in Kansas landscaping today.
The Fencepost limestone is a relatively thin, resistant, and recognizable bed of stone that forms the middle range of bluffs in the Smoky Hills region of north-central Kansas, ranging from the Nebraska border near Mahaska, Kansas, about 200 miles southwest to within a few miles of Dodge City, Kansas, where it is seen in the buildings of the farms and cities of the area.
The Fencepost limestone is unique for its contribution to the cultural landscape of Kansas, appearing as miles of stone fence posts lining austere fields and pastures. The drier climate coupled with the grazing habits of buffalo and the prairie burning practices of Plains Indians meant that the first European settlers to the region did not have enough local timber for construction and fencing. However, a suitable, easy to quarry stone was available. No other "area of the world has used a single rock formation so extensively for fencing."
The source of this tough chalky limestone is the widespread and persistent topmost bed of the Greenhorn Limestone. The Fencepost limestone is the exceptionally wide ranging marker of the conformal contact between the Pfeifer Shale, which is the uppermost member Greenhorn Limestone below, and the Fairport Chalk, the lowest member of the Carlile Shale formation above.
This stone was first scientifically mentioned as the "Fencepost limestone" by F. W. Cragin in 1896 when he originally attempted to name it Downs limestone. The Fencepost bed has also been called Benton limestone for its prominence as a marker for the now generally obsolete Benton Group classification.
Reporting on the "Fence-Post Horizon" in 1897, W. N. Logan noted fifty thousand stone posts in Mitchell and Lincoln counties alone. Since then, the informal name "Fencepost limestone bed" has come to have a stature equal that of the adjacent members. The greatest use of the Fencepost limestone, for fencing and building, was from 1884 to 1920.
Effective July 1, 2018, Kansas Legislation HB 2650 designated Greenhorn Limestone formation, specifically "the famous "post rock" limestone" bed of that unit, to be the state rock of Kansas.
When Europeans settled in north-central Kansas, they found vast grasslands. With few trees available, they quarried a thin, shallow bed of Cretaceous limestone for buildings, bridges, and fenceposts. No area of the world has used a single rock formation so extensively for fencing. Today that rock layer is called Fencepost limestone and north-central Kansas is known as the Land of the Post Rock.