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Barre Vermont
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Barre, Vermont, was chartered in 1780. William Williams and sixty others received the charter, which consisted of 19,900 acres of wilderness. This tract of land was given the name Wildersburg. In 1793, it was renamed Barre after a community of the same name in Massachusetts. Local legend states that the renaming of Wildersburg to Barre resulted due to a fist fight. The victor, a resident of Barre, Massachusetts, won the honor of renaming the town.
In 1788, John Goldsbury and Samuel Rogers, with their families, were the first to begin the work of colonization. Emigrants from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island soon arrived and settled in
Barre.
The growth of the new town was relatively slow during the early part of the 1800's. Some granite manufacturing was done from the exposed outcroppings of granite. Underpinnings, doorsteps, fence posts, and boundary markers were being manufactured by the late 1790's.
Robert Parker is usually recognized as one of the earliest, and most prominent granite workers. Although probably not the first to work granite in Barre, he was the first to recognize the tremendous economic potential of Barre granite. He is considered to be the first commercial granite worker. He opened the first-known granite quarry on his farm on Cobble Hill, just outside of present-day Barre.
Little is known about Parker's early life. He was a Revolutionary War veteran, having fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill. He also fought in the War of 1812, before settling in Barre, Vermont. The exact date he opened his quarry is unknown, but it was probably shortly after the close of the War of 1812. He soon took a partner, Thomas Courser, with whom he ran quarrying and finishing businesses.
The business was eventually passed on to his son John and his son-in-law Eliphalet Hewitt. These two men took out the first paid advertisement of Barre granite in 1834. Later, their businesses were merged with quarries run by Pliny Wheaton. Eventually, the quarry complex became known as Wheaton's quarry.
Another early granite pioneer was Abijah Abbott. He began a small quarry on his farm on Millstone Hill in present-day Websterville, Vermont. When the quarry was opened is not known; however, the first written record pinpointing the location of the quarry appeared in the Thompson Gazetteer for Vermont in 1825. By 1825, Abijah Abbott was manufacturing millstones from the granite in his quarry. Robert F. Abbott, his son, joined the business in 1834.
They expanded the business, supplying many of the millstones for the great mills of New England and Canada. Previously, the huge mill wheels had to be imported from France, but it was found that Barre granite was superior in quality; and of course, transportation expense was much less.
The single, most important event in establishing this neophytic granite industry as an institution in the economic development of the state of Vermont was the building of the capitol in Montpelier. The state of Vermont took bids from contractors in 1833 to supply stone for a new capitol to replace the wooden structure then in use.
It was decided that the new State House would be built from Barre granite. Pliny Wheaton, owner of a small quarry on Cobble Hill, won the contract to provide the granite for the pillars, foundation, window caps, sills, and cornices for the new building. From 1833 until 1837, the state of Vermont paid Mr. Wheaton $100 per year for these granite building materials. The ashlar used to construct the walls of the building were quarried at Millstone Hill from the quarries of Richard Abbott and Col. Davis Harrington. (Today the Abbott quarry is known as the Wells-Lamson quarry. It was purchased by Rock of Ages Corporation in 1986.)
Despite the prestige won by the granite industry in building the new capitol, the granite business began to stagnate and then to decline during the 1840's. One of the biggest causes of this decline was the expensive, painstakingly slow process of transporting the heavy granite by horse teams and by rollers. In fact, despite the prestige, the suppliers actually lost money building the capitol due to the enormous transportation costs to ship the stone the twelve miles from Millstone and Cobble Hills to Montpelier. This twelve-mile haul often took sixteen hours of dangerous travel. A less costly, more efficient mode of transporting the granite was needed.
Although Barre was part of a direct route from Boston to Montreal, the principle mode of transportation to the town was the horse or horse-drawn carriage. In 1849 the Central Vermont Railroad opened a line from Burlington, Vermont, to Windsor, Vermont, encompassing Montpelier en route, but by-passing Barre. The by-passing of Barre by the railroad was a major defeat for the granite industry. The industry continued to decline during the 1850's, and the population of Barre dropped from 2,126 in 1840 to 1,839 in 1860.
The Civil War stimulated the sagging economy of Barre. The population increased slightly to 1,882 by 1870. In 1875 the Central Vermont Railroad extended its line from Montpelier to Barre, providing the efficient transportation system needed to energize the Barre granite industry.
The remaining obstacle was the difficult trek down Millstone Hill from the quarries to Barre. The slope of the hill is so steep that in order to hold back the heavy, horse-drawn wagons loaded with granite, the workers had to hitch as many horse teams to the back as to the front.
Running the rails from Barre to Millstone Hill, with its elevation of 1,025 feet above the town, posed a serious engineering problem. However, by 1888 the quarry line was completed. It was a system using smooth rails, circumventing gravity by the use of switchbacks. This rail system became an integral factor in establishing the Barre granite industry. Rail remained the primary means of transportation until the 1950's, when it was superseded by trucking.
The impact of the railroad is best understood by examining the rapid population growth of Barre following its construction. The population grew from 2,060 people in 1880 to 6,790 in 1890. The granite industry continued to radiate this new-found energy. Growth was explosive. The population had grown to over 12,000 people by 1910.
Hundreds of immigrants came from Canada, Italy, Scotland, Sweden, and other lands increasing the ranks of the granite workers who earned money to bring their families to America. Generations of skilled stone cutters came from Italy to sculpt the granite into intricate designs. Barre became an unusual ethnic melting pot, blending numerous cultures with the firmly imbedded Yankee tradition.
These explosive growth years were not easy. Lack of efficient technology demanded heavy reliance upon the most grueling of physical labor. Hand tools and dynamite were the only means these rugged pioneers possessed to wrestle the reluctant granite from the ground. Thousands of men were required to toil in the quarries. Despite bad weather, these men went down dizzying depths day after day where the noise deadened the mind and hard work tested the strength of muscle and human will.
It is no wonder these men sought recreation after the toil of a long day in the quarries. After work, the men were loaded into rail cars and taken into Barre to spend a few carefree hours in the saloons. When the saloons closed at night, guns were fired to round up the quarry workers. They were frequently tossed into railroad cars with armed conductors, and an old
saddle-tank locomotive would haul them up the "steepest standard gauge railroad this side of the Rockies" to their homes and boarding houses. The next morning, these hardy men returned to face another hazardous day in the quarries.
It was these turbulent, rigorous years of quarry growth that gave birth to Rock of Ages. The history of Rock of Ages began with George Milne, a visionary Scottish immigrant who had come to Barre to pursue the American dream. He was a skilled granite worker who possessed keen business acumen. He entered the granite industry in 1883, carefully saving money and awaiting opportunity. By 1885, he had saved enough money to purchase a quarry of his own. He later joined two investors with whom he formed the partnership of Boutwell, Milne, and Varnum. This company later adopted the trade name of Rock of Ages and established itself as one of the leaders in the Barre granite industry.
As the years passed, technology blossomed, providing a safer, healthier work environment for the quarry workers. Fixed derricks or cranes were installed to lift the heavy granite from the holes, replacing the horse-drawn, pulley systems used previously. Electric batteries were
developed, providing a safe method of detonating explosives. The use of steam drills allowed the granite to be quarried at a faster rate. More efficient explosives came into use, and pneumatic drills and granite saws were developed.
The 1930's witnessed the introduction of detachable drill bits. This event revolutionized the drilling process, allowing for the rapid replacement of dull bits without the loss of the use of the drill. Wet-drilling methods were employed in the quarries to protect the workers' lungs from the granite dust, saving countless lives. In the 1950's, another major innovation occurred when jet burners were introduced. These machines, which are still in use today, burn a mixture of oxygen and fuel oil. They are used to burn channels in the granite, cutting blocks from the quarry at a higher rate of speed than is possible with pneumatic drilling.
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