Editing Isle La Motte (section)

==Geology and quarrying==

The island, along with [[Valcour Island]] south of [[Plattsburgh (city), New York|Plattsburgh]], was formed 480 million years ago as a [[reef]] during the [[Ordovician]] Period in a shallow tropical sea, near where [[Morocco]] is today. At that time there was no life on dry land except for a few primitive plants such as [[moss]]es and [[algae]]. Almost all of life was in the oceans. [[Carbon dioxide]] levels were 14–16 times higher than today, with high sea levels covering much of the continents, which were mostly located south of the equator.<ref name="ilmpt" /> The [[Stromatoporoidea|stromatoporoid]] patch reef, one of the oldest known [[metazoan]] reefs, originally stretched a thousand miles from what is now Quebec to [[Tennessee]], but only a few remnants remain today.<ref name=ilmpt/> The island's fossil reefs are part of the [[Chazy Fossil Reef]], a [[National Natural Landmark]] dedicated in 2009.<ref name=NPS_NNL>{{cite web |url=http://www.nature.nps.gov/nnl/site.cfm?Site=CHFO-VT |title=Chazy Fossil Reef |website=National Natural Landmarks Program |date=June 28, 2012 |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=September 16, 2016 |archive-date=September 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906122740/http://www.nature.nps.gov/nnl/site.cfm?Site=CHFO-VT |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Reef builders during this period in earth history were principally [[bryozoa]], [[stromatolite]]s, stromatoporoids, [[sponge]]s, and algae. Other marine life included [[cephalopod]]s, [[Gastropoda|gastropods]], [[crinoid]]s, and [[trilobite]]s. Today fossil gastropods (snails) can be seen at the abandoned quarries.

Black [[limestone]] from the [[Chazy Formation]] was quarried on the island. The oldest quarry behind Fisk Farm<ref name="smithsonian">{{cite web| last =Teresi| first =Dick| title =Paleozoic Vermont| work =p. 26| publisher =[[Smithsonian Magazine]]|date=January 2007| url =http://www.smithsonianmag.com/issues/2007/january/phenom.php| access-date = April 15, 2007 }}</ref> started as early as 1832.

The limestone is composed of [[calcite]] and [[fossil]]s of marine creatures. It is so dark in appearance that it was marketed in the 18th and 19th century as "black marble" and was used for the construction of the [[United States Capitol|U.S. Capitol]] building and the [[National Gallery of Art]]. Structures made of the stone still visible on the island are the Isle La Motte Public Library, the Isle La Motte Methodist Church, Isle La Motte Historical Society (formerly the South Stone School House), ruins of the Fisk House at Fisk Farm, and the original Fisk House (once owned by Lieutenant Governor Nelson Fisk).