Indiana state stone is a public sculpture at the Indiana Statehouse in downtown Indianapolis. It is an cube of Indiana limestone that is mounted on a wooden, rotating dolly. It was carved from limestone quarried from the P. M. & B. limestone quarry located in southern Indiana. This sculpture commemorates limestone becoming Indiana's official state stone on March 1, 1971.
Description
The Indiana state stone sculpture is the Indiana Statehouse’s only piece of kinetic art. The engraved limestone cube sits atop a dolly that rotates 360 degrees so that individuals can spin it in order to read the inscriptions that are carved into the five visible sides of the six-sided sculpture. Each of the visible sides has separate inscriptions observing aspects of the limestone industry in Indiana. One side notes that Bedford, Indiana is the "limestone capital of the world", another names P. M. & B. the quarry from which the stone for this sculpture was extracted, and yet another side commemorates March 1, 1971 as the day limestone became Indiana’s official state stone.
The dolly on which the limestone block sits consists of an oak base with three metal casters attached to the bottom. A metal bar is attached to the center of the underside of the wooden base which connects to a circular steel plate. The metal bar acts as a pivot point for the dolly to turn. The steel plate was once coated in black enamel, which has been worn away by its interaction with the three caster wheels. Little black enamel remains.
The entire sculpture, including the dolly, measures 16.25 in × 16 in. The cube of limestone measures 12 7/16 in on all sides. The oak base is 14 5/8 in × 14 5/8 in. The caster wheels are 2 3/8 in tall. The steel plate upon which the caster wheels rotate is 16 inches in diameter. The block of limestone weighs .
Historical information
The Indiana state stone sculpture was created and displayed at the Indiana Statehouse to commemorate limestone becoming Indiana’s official state stone on March 1, 1971 by the Indiana General Assembly. Limestone was designated the state stone in order to honor Indiana limestone usage across the nation in many famous structures.
The limestone House Bill 1202 designated limestone as the official state stone. The two legislators that sponsored the bill were Maurice Chase of Bedford and Stephen Ferguson of Bloomington, Indiana. Ferguson jokingly claimed to have no real objection to the bill, while Chase had 30 years experience working in stone mills until he retired. Chase is claimed to have drawn attention to the bill by handing out tiny Indiana maps made of limestone. He is quoted in saying, “Limestone has been used for so many famous structures. It seemed appropriate to have it named the state stone.”
The Indiana state stone sculpture has been located in a niche on the fourth floor of the Indiana Statehouse between the Senate and the House of Representatives chambers since at least March 5, 1983. The cube was cut to dimension using a modern diamond belt saw.
P. M. & B. (Perry, Matthews, & Buskirk) Quarry
The P. M. & B. (Perry, Matthews & Buskirk) quarry is located approximately one mile north of the town of Oolitic, Indiana and approximately three miles northwest of the city of Bedford, IN. This area is known as the Stone Belt; a 20 mile wide vein of limestone that runs through both Monroe and Lawrence counties. The P. M. & B. quarry company was organized on February 15, 1889, and development of the quarry began directly afterward.
The original members of the company were William N. Matthews, Fred Matthews, Henry F. Perry, Captain Gilbert K. Perry, Sarah E. Matthews, and Phillip K. Buskirk. The original members of the company had it incorporated on July 13, 1893. The original members claimed to have put every cent they could scrap together into developing their first plot of land. The members boasted that if their land didn’t produce the highest grade of stone, they would have surly gone bankrupt.
The company owned a total of 898 acres of land, of which only 240 acres were developable stone land. The original machinery used to excavate the quarry consisted of one channeling machine and a derrick. By 1895 the company had 10 machines running around the clock and was shipping between 10 and 15 car loads of stone each day on the Monon Railroad.