Limestone

The Empire State Building in New York City and all of the major buildings on the National Mall in Washington DC including the National Monument, are made from Indiana limestone. Limestone plays a deep and fundamental role of the lives of many in Indiana. Three key dimensions of limestone in the Midwest are; the cutting, with a focus on the occupational lore of quarrying the stone, the carving, with attention to architectural as well as statue carving and lastly, the production of limestone gravestones with attention to the material, design, artistry and cultural context of these religious markers. The film also considers ancillary traditions such as the use of abandoned quarry pits as local swimming holes.