Leesburg, VA (September 7, 2023) – Thomas Balch Library will host local historian Paul Kreingold in a discussion of “Potomac Marble: History of the Search of the Ideal Stone” on Sunday, September 17 beginning at 2 p.m. The book will be available for purchase at the event.
The destruction of Washington in 1814 by the invading British challenged President James Monroe and architect Benjamin Latrobe with the task of rebuilding government edifices that had been destroyed. As symbols of the aspirations of the republic, these buildings had to be more than functional—they had to be beautiful.
The building material they discovered and used to beautify the new Capitol was Potomac marble, which exists in abundance on both sides of the Potomac River, from Leesburg in Loudoun County, Virginia, to Montgomery and Frederick Counties in Maryland. Kreingold details Latrobe’s and Monroe’s search for the ideal stone and their fight to use it to rebuild the chambers of the House and Senate.
Pre-registration is required for this event. Please call 703-737-7195, email balchlib@leesburgva.gov, or register online.
Paul Kreingold is a thirty-eight-year resident of Leesburg, Virginia. He is currently president of the Banshee Reeks Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalists and conservation director of Izaak Walton League, Loudoun County Chapter. His interest in geology and history dates to his college days, so after a long career in computer system design, he now devotes his time to research and education. Besides public lectures throughout the region Kreingold regularly leads “expeditions” to the rediscovered Latrobe Potomac Marble quarry along beautiful Potomac River.
