Cobblestone landmarks of New York State

by Olaf William Shelgren Jr., Robert Frasch, Cary Lattin

Born of native ingenuity, cobblestone construction in western and central New York enjoyed only a thirty-year popularity in the middle of the nineteenth century, but it was a genre unprecedented in American masonry.

More than regional curiosities, cobblestone landmarks are works of art created by pioneer craftsmen from an Ice Age palette. More than 100 crisp photographs elegantly illustrate some of the finer examples of cobblestone fold art, such as mansions, cottages, churches, barns, smithys, and schools. five detailed maps of western and central New York make this a guidebook of cobblestone artistry.

Genres: Architecture, New York, Nonfiction, History

163 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Olaf William Shelgren, Jr., was an architect in Buffalo, NY. He sat on the Buffalo Landmark and Preservation Board and was a trustee of the Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier. during his term as president of the Cobblestone Society (1966-1974) he brought together these people whose enthusiasm for cobblestone buildings has culminated in this book.

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating volume on a unique style of decorating buildings (homes and commercial structures) using cobblestone masonry, in the 19th Century in NYS - using neatly arranged rows of cobblestones stuck into mortar to face the buildings, often giving them interesting patterns, color variations, and so forth. The technique may have been imported to NY with the recruitment of masons from England to help with the construction of the Erie Canal, since the style was in use in England and elsewhere in Europe, such as in Italy. Cobbles of uniform size and color were available on the shore of Lake Ontario and the style of decoration was used in structures from the Albany to the Niagara area, even spreading to Wisconsin with migrants from NY to the Mid-west. Cobbles were collected and sorted according to size and color; thus, almost like mosaic tiles, they would be placed in decorative bands to both strengthen and enliven a building. Some of the effects obtained were charming/rustic, others used stones of such uniform size and color and placed so carefully as to resemble brickwork from a distance.

Cobblestones require no painting and made for very strong buildings; if placed with care, the result was very neat. The style was combined with various architectural styles many times very effectively. I certainly hope, since this book was written almost 40 years ago, that some of these historic structures still survive in upstate NY and elsewhere.