Travel Tuesday: Barre, Vermont

Hope Cemetery in Barre, Vermont has some amazing monuments like this soccer ball dedicated to the memory of a young 13-year old soccer player who died 29 years ago.

Also engraved on the ball are the words: "There is no room for second place.  There's only one place and that's first place."  I'm sure this is the feeling of all the World Cup competitors.

 I was told by a local that each gravestone has a story behind it and that the stone carver usually had some kind of personal connection with the deceased.  The gravestones are all carved from Barre (light)
gray granite.

Some of the finest memorial designs and granite craftsmanship are on display here.  It's definitely worth a visit or three.

Travel Tuesday: Barre, Vermont

Driving through the center of town you will see the "Youth Triumphant" soldiers' and sailors' memorial which was carved by local stoneworkers using Barre granite.  This sculpture became Barre's trademark and was adopted as their city seal.  

Greek Revival

Church of the Presidents

Thursday is "This Old Building" Day

 Today I am sharing a building facade from "Granite Town" also known at St. George in New Brunswick, Canada.  I thought it appropriate seeing as we call ourselves "Granite City."

St. George's granite industry began in 1862, (later than Quincy's).   "St. George red and black" was quarried and transformed in their local sheds for more than 60 years.  It was used in buildings and cemeteries across North America.   

St. George supplied columns and stone for the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Boston as well as the American Museum of Natural History in New York and Ottawa's Parliament Building, to name a few. 

Travel Tuesday: Stonington, Maine

Stonington and Quincy have a few things in common.  Besides sharing a seafaring location along the Atlantic coastline, we both enjoyed the granite boom of the 1800s, when quarrying became a major occupation.  Unlike Quincy, many Stonington residents still make a living from the sea.

Walking The Ruins

More than 100 years ago, inside these granite walls, large granite cylinders, 3' x 22', were turned on lathes and polished by jennies.  The Lyon's Turning Mill is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Happy Monochrome Monday!

Abandoned Quarry

This is what remains of the abandoned quarry beside the Lyons Turning Mill.  The building seen at the top of the quarry is part of the Granite Links Golf complex.

Chiseled In History

The Lyon's Turning Mill is the site of an historic granite turning mill that was established in 1893 off a roadway now called Ricciuti Drive.  An "Open House" was held there this past weekend providing an opportunity to see this National Register Historic Site up close complete with demonstrations of some old granite cutting hand tools.

Granite Gem

This beautiful detail is attributed to the master stone cutters responsible for designing and constructing Quincy's City Hall in the mid-1800s. The granite came from Quincy's quarries and has lasted more than 150 years. The building's exterior surface is weathering better then the interior. Money is needed to update and make necessary repairs to the inside of this outstanding historical structure.

Happy Monochrome Monday!

Stone Stairway To Heaven

This stately, and rather grand mausoleum is made from Quincy granite. It is located in Forest Hills Cemetery, one of the finest examples of a 19th century garden cemetery. There is so much history and art here . . . definitely worth your time. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

It's Monochrome Monday!

"A Hill Too Dearly Bought"

Breeds Hill in Charlestown, is the site of the Bunker Hill Monument where the first battle of the American Revolutionary War took place. The 220 foot obelisk was the first and tallest to be built in America. Architect Solomon Willard designed the monument and had a railroad built to haul the Quincy granite to a barge which took it to Charlestown for assembly.

Daniel Webster spoke at the commemoration, asserting that the “monument stands a memorial of the past, a monitor to the present, and to all succeeding generations.”

Space Available

The site of the Lincoln Granite Company on Centre Street has been vacant for quite some time. There are a few remnants here of the once thriving granite industry in Quincy.

Snowy Ruins

The Lyon's Turning Mill is the proposed home of the recently formed Quincy Quarry & Granite Workers Museum.

Granite Spiral

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This stone staircase at Fort Warren was built sometime between 1833 and 1861 . . . it has stood the test of time. What a gorgeous piece of design, engineering and stone work. Quincy granite workers had a large role in the making of this fort on George's Island. This is my contribution to the Monochrome Monday sharing. Click here to see more black and white images.

Granite Railway 3

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Today's continuing series brings us to a pile of rocks at the end of Bunker Hill Lane. What looks like a plain ol' pile of rocks is called a grout pile or the rejected stones for a project. It looks like "quality control" was in effect here. This is where the Granite Railway loaded up to begin its 3 mile run.

The large size stone with the split, in the image below, is a rejected stair made for the Bunker Hill Monument. The Bunker Hill Monument's rounded, conical` staircase has 224 stone stairs and moving stone there was the first commercial venture for the Granite Railway back in the 1820s.

I sure would like a stone wall made out of those rejects . . .

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Thursday is "This Old House Day"`

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Today's old house is located on the corner of Adams and Squantum Streets in neighboring East Milton, not far from the site of the Granite Railway. If you enlarge this picture you will see that this house is largely built of granite blocks from a nearby Quincy quarry. This stone cottage was once the site of the blacksmith and wheelwright who helped to build the railway cars for the first commercial railway in this country.

Click here to see another granite house. This house was modeled after a Granite Railway boarding house.

The Granite Railway

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This is Vic Campbell, a railroad enthusiast and tour leader with a particular interest in our country's first commercial railroad that was conceived of and built in Quincy in the 1820s. Vic is sitting on one of the early metal rails embedded into a block of Quincy granite. These blocks were salvaged from new road and housing construction sites and are now located in the back of the Quincy Historical Society building where Vic begins his tours of the Granite Railway historic sites. You can find out more about the "Quarry-To-Wharf" tours by clicking here.

We'll visit the site of the old rail bed tomorrow. Do you know why a railroad was needed? Hint . . . the name of the railroad . . .

Granite Ruins

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Quincy has its own ruins documented here. This is the site of the Lyon's Turning Mill, the largest granite turning mill in America, founded in 1894, where monolithic columns (one piece of rock) were turned for many famous buildings including the Custom Houses in Boston. I like the column remnant in the foreground.

There is a preservation move to turn the remnants of this into a museum about the granite industry in Quincy. Click here for more information about the museum effort. These ruins are fenced in on the edge of the Blue Hills and Granite Links Golf Course and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Robert Burns

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Many Scottish immigrants came to Quincy to work in the quarries. In 1926, as part of the celebration of the city's 300th anniversary of its founding, the Scottish community donated to the city this statue of Scottish poet laureate, Robert Burns.

"Granite City"

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Quincy's granite industry was famous the world over. Over the next few days I will give you a glimpse into this fascinating industry that helped build this historic city.

I can think of no better place to begin then at the Stonecutter's Memorial Statue in West Quincy. It was the artistry and craftsmanship of those early stonecutters with their chisels and hammers in hand who made the term "Quincy Granite" synonymous with superior quality. The inscription at the base of the statue erected in 1994, reads: "In Grateful Memory of Quincy's Granite Workers Whose Talents And Dedication Have Been Recognized Throughout The World."