Geologists: What Do I Have Here? Odd Stones Found In Virginia That Were Once Wood. But It's Not Petrified.

March 4, 2020

#363

Gentle reader,

I was born in Arizona, but never visited the Petrified Forrest, but I know about it and what was involved in petrifying fallen trees from millions of years ago.

Firstly, I know the two pieces in front are petrified wood. My wife found the small piece somewhere and bought it. I found the large one at an antiques store here in Virginia.

The other two we found fallen from a cliff on the Potomac River. 

Below are multiple shots made in direct daylight of the large piece from all angles, with no changes made to the photos other than cropping and file size.

Multiple colors seen in it.

Look at the photo below, near the top at the right is clearly a branch and another branch seems to be to the left of the larger one.

Above, that is or was, obviously a piece of bark. It resembles pine bark. It will be more obvious in later photos.

One can see above where twig branches once grew in spots seen in this photo.

No indication of tree rings or other things, from the bottom, it is just a rock.

Here, the piece of bark is more obvious. And, I now see what appears to be a branch or another piece of bark to the right.

This shot shows the piece in the colors I see, mostly they are quite reddish. Also, the stone weighs three pounds 13.6 ounces.

Below are shots I made today under bright daylight balanced LED lightbulbs with diffusers over ten inch reflectors. And, I was using a different camera than the shots above.

Just look at all the colors that show up. I will have links at the bottom of the article, which among much other information, explain what the colors were caused by.

The smaller piece's corner points at what may have been a branch.

Even the gray bottom has colors not seen above.

This is the cliff beneath which we found what at first appeared to be interesting looking rocks. Only upon closer examination, did I conclude they had to have been parts of a tree.
As you can see, the river has been eroding the cliff for MANY years. This is a film image I shot sometime last Century. So no doubt, those trees may have since fallen. 

Take a close look at both of these objects, in all of the photos. The one on the left has obvious branches, one can see obvious centers and the rings in them.

From this side, they just look like layers of silt built up over a very long time. I have learned those lines are called rays.

Above and below, are more branches in both pieces. Clearly rings are seen in both. 

These shots clearly show rings, and the one on the right is clearly the center of what was once a tree trunk or branch.

See the dust beneath them? They feel and crumble like sandstone.

So they are not petrified, but clearly stones and to me, obviously were once parts of a tree, LONG ago.

I did a search and came up with these articles in Wikipedia:

Petrified wood - Wikipedia 

Fossil wood - Wikipedia 

Submerged forest - Wikipedia  

This article helps one determine what various colors mean in petrified wood:

Simple Ways to Identify Petrified Wood: 8 Steps (with Pictures) 

Yet, of all of these articles did not reveal anything to help me identify whether this sandstone-like rock is some form of petrified wood. What do you think? Leave your comments below. 

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. It is your kind words and comments that keep me writing.

Scott
March 4, 2020 

Exploring An Abandoned Prison Lorton, Virginia

March 2, 2020

#362

Gentle reader,

While the title may be titillating, we did not enter any of the buildings, because unlike today, yesterday was definitely March coming in like a lion. With roaring winds, so we stayed in the car.

Lorton Reformatory was a prison for residents of Washington, D.C. which of course, (NIMBY*) did not have land for a prison. So, in the early 20th Century, after reports of the deplorable conditions of the D.C. Jail and Workhouse, they purchased 1,155 acres in Fairfax County, Virginia to build a prison and workhouse for their prisoners. *Not In My Back Yard.

Then, the Lorton area of Farifax was  largely rural with Route 123, (which is now a divided 50 miles-per-hour multi-lane road) was until a few years ago a winding two-lane country road, running north and south past the entrance. 

Prior to the turn of the Millennium, the D.C. government bowed to pressure from Fairfax County and land developers and moved all their prisoners to Ohio. "Want to visit Daddy? OK, let me check the Greyhound bus schedules." Outcry from families and the ACLU did no good. They were moved WAY out of state.

To satisfy your curiosity as to what Lorton Reformatory once was, here are some links to articles by others with photos of places no longer accessible or even existing.

Lorton Reformatory: an Abandoned Penitentiary in Lorton, VA 

I See Beauty All Around Goes Behind Bars at the Old Lorton Reformatory – I see beauty all around by rob paine 

Lorton Reformatory (Prison) - Lorton, Virginia 


The Lorton Prison Stories Project

And here are a few YouTube videos as well.

(22) Lorton Reformatory - Lorton VA - YouTube  

Lorton Prison - Silverbrook Road Compound - YouTube
 
(22) Lorton Prison Maximum Security - YouTube
 
The prison which occupied what is now very prime real estate in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Fairfax County in northern Virginia has been transformed into: 

Home - Workhouse Arts Center

The land which abuts a huge county landfill/power generator station (they burn trash to make electricity) has partially been turned over to the landfill and the rest sold to developers. They have razed the buildings. 

This photo is from Fairfax county and shows how massive it once was. The black and white portions of the photo which have curves lines of buildings on streets are homes that have already been built on former prison land as of 2015.

A guard tower which is not really much a tower as the photo shows, below.

There is truly, other than the original "public" buildings that front Ox Road (Route 123), very little left of the inmate housing structures. The land being too valuable to the county for their tax coffers.

A "physical plant" which provided steam heat  to many of the buildings. The picnic tables are part of the art center.

We have no idea what this small structure was made for. Not for inmates to use, that much is obvious.

Only two of the imposing guard towers remain and artists have attempted to create some beauty with them.

As far as we could tell without a drone to scout for us, all of the actual inmate buildings are gone.

The buildings visible from passing roads were quite nice to look at, by prison standards. One can see that these windows were once arched.

As are the doorways and once the windows of this outbuilding. 

This outbuilding with detail below seems to have housed small vehicles, perhaps for plowing snow or? Since prisons are like small cities, the people living and working there need most things that free people take for granted.

Someone has broken the hasp away from the door frame. With all the windows bricked or boarded up, who knows what might still be inside.

This barn-shaped structure may have house other prison maintenance vehicles or equipment.

The last outbuilding prior to exiting onto the grounds onto Lorton Road which runs perpendicular to Route 123, Ox Road. There IS another road leading off of Lorton Road into what was prison land, but it is chained off. 

Since I try not to use anything Google (Google owns Blogger and YouTube, so I am stuck using those), I did not download Google Earth to see what I could see. But feel free to do so.

I use:  DuckDuckGo — Privacy, simplified. A search engine. They do not track you. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this brief article with a look at what remains of Lorton Reformatory that was NOT converted to use for the Arts.

Scott

March 2, 2020

#362

 

Death and Destruction of A Most Unique Abandoned Home In Northern Virginia PART ONE

March 2, 2020

#361

Gentle reader,

I dedicate this article to my loving wife Nancy. Sad though the article is, she and I share many passions including the sad story of this once beautiful home. She is 55 today.

This begins a series of articles which left off here:

Pre-Abandonment Photos of: A Most Unique Abandoned Home In Northern Virginia  

Previous articles are below:
A Most Unique Abandoned Home In Northern Virginia INSIDE! Shocking Find!

and here is the original article:

A Most Unique Abandoned Home In Northern Virginia 

We have an old Ford Ranger pickup which sits 99% of the time. So, weekly, I take it for a spin, which is how I first saw the property. The first photo I made of it was through the truck's windshield.

We knew the property was sold in January for $3,795,000 for almost forty acres. So we decided to document the house and land before THIS began.

I have learned that the Preston Trucking Company went out of business YEARS ago. So, the trailer is being used possibly by the logging company.

That piece of plywood is new as are the permits on it.

Not sure why that door has a Hazmat warning label on it.

Those pallets are for the heavy trucks to drive across and not bog down. We have been having a lot of rain this winter rather than snow.

As I started driving away after this shot. I saw there is a cleared area to the right (West) of here. Perhaps the builders will set up their construction trailers there once the land is "cleared". 

I hate development that is not needed. There are no shortage of homes, new and previously lived in, for sale or rent around here. In fact, right next door is a house for rent!

So, this wanton destruction (and death of the innocent trees) is unnecessary and purely driven by greed. 

At least, they are trucking the logs away. I sends me over the edge when they simply shred the innocent trees. At least some of them will find a use as lumber. 

My mother informed me when I told her about this house and that the trees are being felled, that in Georgia, before trees can be removed from one's property, officials will come and measure those trees and one MUST plant equivalent trees elsewhere on the property so that the carbon footprint of the land remains neutral. This should be a worldwide law.

I will close with this, since I've been ranting about trees: 

You may not be aware of this, but all plants ABSORB carbon from the air and STORE it within themselves. They breathe in carbon dioxide through their leaves and breathe out OXYGEN.

The worst thing that can be done to wood is to BURN it! All that stored carbon and other dangerous chemicals are released through the smoke.

Scott
March 2, 2020
#361