Ed Otter is right about the shell midden as a resource. On the south bank
of the Potomac in Virginia, several shell fields exhibit evidence of
mining. I'm sure that happened at the Hallowes site in Westmoreland County.
 
In Worcester County, Maryland, south of Ocean City, there is a
nineteenth-century limekiln built of fieldstone, which must have been
imported from elsewhere, about 1825. It used the local shell. At the
visitor center to the Assateague seashore, we found a site that appeared
from surface indications to have been a place where shell was processed.
 
For a description and photo of the shell lime kiln, see Paul Touart's book
"Along the Seaboard Side," which is an architectural history of Worcester
County in the Maryland Historical Trust series. The presence of upland
stone in the kiln's construction, in stone-free Worcester County, suggests
a middle nineteenth-century date. In Delmarva, building stone may be taken
as an almost certain indicator of steamboat freight service, which began
about 1825 in most localities.
 
Shell meal is still available for use as a poultry feed. If you want to
fake the appearance of shell-lime mortar, throw some shell meal into the
mix of white portland cement and slaked lime.
 
 
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