Stone was a primary building product for thousands of years. It’s durable, but one of the biggest downsides is the weight, making it difficult to move and transport.
20th century technology made it easier to transport and utilize stone as a common modern day building product. Cutting stone into a thin veneer was the revolutionary.
Brick also became more popular as machines could create them much faster than past manual methods.
Wood has been a staple for building products for thousands of years. Wood siding became popular in the mid 1800’s due to a simplified milling process.