The History of Limestone

When you decide to incorporate a piece of limestone in your home designs, you are putting in a piece of history that dates back to billions of years. Many people appreciate the exterior allure limestone brings into a home, but even more fail to realize that people have appreciated its inner-beauty for much longer.

Limestone is a sedimentary stone that is made of a lot of shells, small snails and tiny sea animals. When those animals die, their bodies fall to the bottom of the ocean which creates rock after years of decompression. Their shells, which are made out of similar products which your teeth are, are squeezed together from the water pressure above them to form the rock that people use.

The earliest uses of limestone can be traced back to 4,000 BC when Egyptians would burn and combine the stone with products like water to create a material that would harden over time. The earliest documents of lime being used in a construction formula were the same era of the Egyptians, who used it to build the pyramids. While the first uses of lime in mortars are unclear, it is well documented that the building material was very popular with the Romans. Limestone was most popular in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries when the popularity of trains and banks was rising.  In growth of cities, limestone was used as a protective barrier outside of skyscrapers. Even today, the rock is a popular choice in construction because it is easy to cut into blocks and easy to carve alongside being able to stand strong, in multiple environments.

Limestone is very common in the architecture of Europe and North America with lots of worldwide landmarks being constructed of the aged material. Notable monuments include one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Megalithic Temples of Malta which is one of the oldest free-standing structures today and courthouses like the one in Manhattan, Kansas. Limestone was so heavily used in constructing Kingston, Ontario in Canada that it is nicknamed, “The Limestone City.” Today, limestone makes up 10% of the volume in total sedimentary rocks with the lower keys in the Florida Keys off the southern coast of Florida, being mainly composed of limestone and carbonate skeletons of coral reefs. 

Uses of limestone also go across the board. Beyond being used in the construction of buildings, it helps in the process. Limestone is a key ingredient in the raw manufacture of quicklime, slaked lime, cement and mortar. When crushed, it is used as an aggregate for the solid based in roads and asphalt concrete. Impressively, limestone can even suppress methane explosions in coal mines.

Of course, this durable stone can also be placed in your home for unique design that will withstand the test of time the stone has for centuries. If interested in making this durable and historic stone part of your home, call Opustone today.