Strong Enough For Kong: Indiana Limestone

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK - What once was under Indiana's surface has now soared into the clouds of New York City. Indiana limestone is everywhere, from the campus of IU-Bloomington, to the Empire State Building. The walls of the White River State Park Promenade are made of Indiana limestone, and along the path there's a small display that shows where the rock has been used across the country.

Bedford, Indiana is known as the limestone capital of the world

I was in NYC over the weekend, and just looking at the Empire State Building gave me a tremendous sense of pride. It was time to go UP, so the Big Apple called Little Indiana for the proper resources..

British Geological Survey - Limestone is a sedimentary rock. It forms predominantly on the sea floor where material rich in calcium carbonate ('calcareous' material) accumulates. This calcareous material may be organic, chemical or detrital in origin.

So what does this tell us about the history of our state? 350 millions years ago Indiana was completely underwater. The ground that we walk on today was once the floor of the sea. From the caves of southern Indiana to the rolling hills of Brown County to the gas-rich fields of east central Indiana, all of it was beneath the sea.

As the sea level began to fall, limestone began to rise. Yes, the same exact limestone to that has risen to over 1400 feet in the New York City Skyline. The same limestone that was STRONG ENOUGH FOR KONG.

I'll keep the historical piece of this article short, and take a sky dive into some personal reflection and appreciation. Look at Indiana, we have literally helped shaped one of the most iconic structures that our country and our world has ever seen.

With that being said, there currently seems to be an overarching theme of people in Indiana blaming their environment and their surroundings for their failures. I find that crazy, because the people of Indiana, from the Native Americans to present day, have always found a way to use and share their resources.

This is something that I still need to do a better job of in my own life. The resources that are around me (people, places, opportunity, etc.,) are absolutely incredible. It's up to me to put myself in a position to utilize these resources.

I also feel a responsibility to be a reliable resource for others, just as Indiana has been that resource for me. Indiana is me, and I am Indiana. This is why I am able to understand and analyze myself by simply understanding and analyzing my home.

If we have what it takes to hold King Kong, then shouldn't we have what it takes to hold you?

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Here are a just a few other places in which you can find Indiana limestone.