How To Date a Cobblestone House

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Early 1900's post card, L-R Town Hall, General Store & H. E. Hamil Carriage Shop. To access the Cobblestone Info Base structure page use link Cla-9 Town Garage. Image courtesy Cobblestone Museum.

      How do you determine the age of cobblestone walls if dates are not available? For a background, we first should become familiar with the cobblestone era, which involves a period of 40 years. Then, after taking notes of construction and material of a specimen in question, we can approximate the age by dividing the 40-year period into three parts: Early: 1825 to 1835, Middle: 1835 to 1845, and the late Period: 1845 to the Civil War years.
      Since each of these periods is a rather distinct division within the four decades, we can discover with little scrutiny a progression from early period rough forms to intricately laid up walls by the late period. The simplest of wall formations or crude courses of stones must always belong to the early period. The dividing line between early and middle becomes evident after the rural masons began projecting cobblestones more outwardly from the face of the wall or mortar.
      Also, middle period masons were more selective in their displays of stones, compared with the use of larger stones of various shapes and color by the early period masons. Although the three periods overlapped in various regions where cobblestones are found, the middle period was the most prolific in the laying up of various rustic and artistic designs not common to early work. Also noteworthy is the beginning of the use of smaller and smaller stones which made more courses (rows) to the quoin or corner stone.
      The middle period was the great "cobblestone building boom" consisting of a wide variety of cobblestone architecture and the introduction of the horizontal and vertical mortar joints. Yet, the middle period masons retained the rustic quality of wall formation characteristic of the early period.
      When we come to the distinction between the late period and the previous two periods, the line again is drawn between the functional wall of the past and the intricate workmanship attributed to the year after 1845.
      The late period was the "Renaissance" of the cobblestone era and the workmanship, although a thing of beauty, was much more time consuming. It isn't difficult to spot a late period wall with or without sunlight. Late period workmanship lends to give off a sheen when bathed in sunlight. There is little shadow effect from the intricate work, and the rustic quality of early and middle period walls generally has been lost.
      Late period veneers consist of many courses of very small, lake-washed and water rounded stones in various designs. And, a careful study of these walls seems to interpret a great concern for artistry.
      Now our cobblestone venture becomes problematic. Regardless of the three periods, it is much more difficult to date cobblestone walls that were not laid up for dwelling places. For instance, when laying up walls throughout the three periods, few masons afforded the same efforts of artistry as would have been done for a house.
      After much time (often years) spent in obtaining and sorting the material, the best of the stones were not assigned for outbuildings such as barns, smokehouses, spring houses, wood sheds, carriage houses and so on, although a few exceptions can be found. Then again, we must figure the availability of cobblestone material at hand after the initial work on the original house was completed. Thus, we often find that additional wings were erected with either flat field stones or a rougher form of cobblestone.
      Dates are a wonderful thing and they do tend to make the historian lazy. However, without them, we have a chance to deeply explore the wonderful art of cobblestone architecture. There are times when we find an artistic touch here and there that reveals something, that bear likeness to the artistry of period mason-work when dates are missing.
      The old time rural mason, simply by nature, often reveals a time period by his workmanship and trowel marks, even when laying up walls for outbuildings. In this case, the material used is not a drawback to anonymity. These tell-tale signs help to compute the approximate years the wall was erected. But deep into our 20th century, we must admit a chance for error!
      One local specimen is at Clarkson Corners, where early brick dwellings in the immediate surrounding area took precedence over the cobblestone wall. Directly across the road from the Clarkson Post Office, an original cobblestone blacksmith shop was noticed by the author's wandering eye. It is a rough form of cobblestone, characteristic of the early period.
      Upon study, we shall find that the mason used large cobblestones which only allowed space for two or three courses to a quoin. But there is not an overall crudeness or a complement of flat stones so indicative of the early period. In fact the wall facing the south is more exacting than the north wall.
      It is obvious that the mason was engaged in a functional task, yet he troweled crude mortar joints from the middle of the north wall upwards, leaving the bottom portion to the ground void of extra workmanship. So, we have a touch of both periods - Early and Middle. We date the building as being constructed in the 1830s or middle period work.
      Nonetheless, Ray Tuttle says the building was a carriage shop before the turn of the century, operated (in order) by Flagler and Oeligh; Will and Harley Hamil; and Hixon and Costello. During the 1940s and 50s, it was an auto repair shop run by Burton Earley. At present (1975), the Corner's only cobblestone edifice, long since bearing periodic repairs with non-related materials is owned by the town and used for storage.