Europe The original source for lithographic limestone was the
Solnhofen Limestone, named after the quarries of
Solnhofen where it was first found. This is a
late Jurassic deposit, part of a deposit of
plattenkalk (a very fine-grained limestone that splits into thin plates, usually
micrite) that extends through the
Swabian Alb and
Franconian Alb in Southern Germany. Only a small fraction of plattenkalk is suitable for lithography. The largest lithographic printing stone ever quarried came from Le Vigan, 230 x 150cm (90 x 59 in).
Théophile Steinlen used a comparable stone for some of his posters. Several quarries are visible today on the chalky plateau above Montdardier, between north (), and 2 km west () of the town. Shortly before 1867, a second lithographic limestone quarry was opened in France near Cerin and Crey,
Isère (). The lithographic limestones of Cerin are from the
Kimmeridgian stage of the
Upper Jurassic, and as with the Solnhofen deposits, they preserve numerous interesting
fossils. Lithographic limestone from the
Lower Cretaceous has been quarried near Santa Maria de Meià on the south flank of the
Serra del Montsec in Spain. In 1902, L. M. Vidal, a mining engineer, recognized the importance of the fossils found there.
The Americas The American Lithographic Stone Company was organized in
Louisville, Kentucky in late 1868. It initially focused its operation on quarries in
Overton County, Tennessee, but shortly before 1900, it opened a quarry at
Brandenburg, Kentucky. This quarry was the only commercial source of lithographic stone in the United States at the turn of the 20th century. Unlike the Solnhofen stone, Kentucky lithographic limestone was slightly
dolomitic, and it was judged to be competitive with Solnhofen stone for some purposes, but not for the highest quality work. This stone source was sub-Carboniferous (
Mississippian). In 1917, the Brandenburg quarry was judged the most important source of lithographic stone in the United States. Prior to 1916, the output of the Brandenburg quarry was small, but in 1916, as
World War I cut off access to Solnhofen stone, the quarry produced 20 tons of finished lithographic stone. The Remains of the Brandenburg Lithograph Quarry are located along the
Buttermilk Falls Historic Walking Trail (). In 1903, Clement L. Webster discovered a bed of lithographic limestone about southwest of
Orchard, Iowa. His company, the Interstate Investment & Development Company
platted a town named Lithograph City nearby and opened a quarry (). The
Lithograph City Formation of the
Cedar Valley Group straddles the border between the Middle and Late
Devonian and was named for its exposure in this quarry. Outcrops of this formation extend from near
Cedar Falls, Iowa north into
Minnesota. The suitability of Lithograph City limestone for lithography was tested by
A. B. Hoen who reported that stone from two layers in the Lithograph City quarry was excellent for lithography and finer grained than the finest Solnhofen stone. Lithograph City was an important source of lithographic stone in the United States during World War I, but the quarries closed as metal printing plates replaced stone. In 1918, the Devonian Products Company took over the operation, focusing on the production of
crushed rock and renaming the town Devonia. By 1938, the town had disappeared. == See-also ==