The major granite beds along the Fall Line in VA (Fredericksburg, Richmond & Petersburg where their rivers intersect the beds) were a source of building material from the 1800's into the 20th century. Thomas Leonard Watson produced a book for the tri-centennial in 1907 entitled Mineral Resources of VA. It has a section on granite with quarry locations. The good news is that it is available online from Google Books, with the first chapter being the relevant one.

Lyle Browning, RPA


On Nov 12, 2011, at 3:02 PM, Paul V. Heinrich wrote:

> Dear Listmembers,
> 
> I am looking at a underwater historic (1800s ???)
> archaeological site that is located just west of the
> Chandeleur Islands in Chandeleur Sound, St. Bernard
> Parish, Louisiana. A major part of it consists of
> large blocks of undressed / uncut felsic augen gneiss.
> It originally was a granite with a composition of about 
> 39.3 percent quartz, 31.9 percent K-feldspar 
> (microcline), 12.4 percent plagioclase (albite), 16.4 
> percent mica, and trace of garnet. Although patches 
> ballast stones from younger ship grounding are 
> present, the vast majority of the material appears to 
> be riprap. This material is associated with numerous 
> fragments of terracotta roofing tiles. One has "PIER../ST. 
> HE[NRY]" empressed  on it. Other scattered architectural 
> debris are present.
> 
> From what I can determined, it did not come from 
> either the St. Francis or Ouachita mountains. The 
> southern Appalachian Mountains, Wichita Mountains, 
> and Llano Uplift are also unlikely sources for various
> reasons.  It appears that this material was barged in 
> from somewhere else. 
> 
> Are there any databases of historic granite sources,
> quarries, or outcrops in which I can search for possible 
> sources of this granite? I suspect the source had have 
> access to a either a canal, stream, river, or shoreline 
> that was a major water transportation route in the 1800s.
> Are there any building stone reference collections that or
> experts whom I can consult?
> 
> Any suggestions of major quarries, which I can look 
> at as possible source would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Yours,
> 
> Paul
> 
> Paul V. Heinrich
> Louisiana Geological Survey
> 3079 Energy, Coast, and
> Environment Building
> Louisiana State University
> Baton Rouge, LA 70803