Seneca Quarry and Mill Timeline

1785 Owner of the Quarry was the Potomac Company. George Washington, President. Stone used in 5 locks in a Virginia canal. 1

1830's Smithsonian approved the use of the stone in construction. John Peter was the operator of the quarry. Between 1830 and 1833, the cutting building was constructed and then doubled in size. 1 The 1830 map of the property did not have the mill located on it.3

1833 Potomac Red Sandstone Company signed a lease with the C&O Canal for 1,250 inches of water at the rate of 50 cents per inch per annum. 1

1837 John Parke Custis Peter bought the quarry in 1837. Mill was built about that time. The mill was established as a cutting and polishing factory for Seneca sandstone from the quarry. Peter operated the quarry from about 1838 until about 1850. After the mill was constructed, stone was brought to the mill by "mule-drawn gondolas over a narrow gauge railroad track."2

1847 The first important government building to be constructed of the sandstone was the carved and turreted main building of the Smithsonian Institution (the Castle), designed by James Renwick. The sandstone quarried for the Smithsonian building was described originally as lilac gray; now it is a dark red. This building, in the romantic style, was constructed between 1847 and 1857.4