The Dickinson press., 1894-08-11
The Granite CITY.

land .ttts had SO phenomenal !;
gr0wt 'iFd"ring the past ten years as
Barre. Vcrmunt. From u village
having u population of some two
Thousand in 1875, aud with no rail
road nearer than Montpelier, it had
in 1892 II thriving town OF
nine thousand people, lii wing three
railrO Ills. AM churches, schools,
etc. in proportion.
You ask what has caused this
great prosperity. Granite.
While granite had been quarried
here to considerable extent pre-.
vious to 1875, and the state capitol
at Montpelier built of it in 1857, the
poor facilities for transportation re.
tarded the work, and even Barre peo.
pie themselves had no idea of the
immense deposit Of granite within
their !mrlerS.
This deposit covers an are three
miles lung and one mile wide.
From 1875 to 1883 the blocks of
stone were drawn Ivy teams from the
quarries to the village where they
were cut aud chiseled into beautiful
forms.
In December. 1883, the Sky Line"
was opened from the village to the
qmarries. Great obstacles had to be
overcome in the construction OF this
four miles of road. The maximum
grade is four hundred and seventy.
five feet to the mile. The highest
point reached is a quarry one thous.
and twenty-five feet higher than
Barre village. A Baldwin saddle
tank locomotive weighing one hun.
dred thousand pounds can draw ten
cars up this grade to the quar-.
ries. There sixty.seven derricks
load them with the precious granite.
One Thousand tons have been shipped
in one day, aud one hundred thous.
and tons In one year.
A trip to the Barre quarries is
something every Vermont visitor
should take. The railroad goes
around "Millstone Hill" and affords
a fine view of most of the seventy
quarrles. One Of the principal quar-.
ries is about sixty.five rods long and
averages sixteen rods in width. We
are told that it is the largest monu.
mental quarries in the world.
The Barre granite is compound of
quartz, mica, and feld-spar; is fine
and even grain, and takes a high pol.
ish. The contrast between the pol.
isled and hammer.finished surfaces
is very pleasing; for when polished
the granite becomes a dark blush
gray. This granite is especially free
from diScolorations and veins of otis
Ell substances, and hence is especial.
ly good for large peices.
Most of the cutting is done ut
Barre village. There arc now at
work some fifteen hundred cutters.
FortY.nine derricks are in operation
and reach over nearly ten acres.
Could all the finishing plants be com.
bined they would cover fifty acres
and employ three thousand men. A
drive through Barre cemetery re.
veals what can lie done with the
home material: Beautiful stones,
cut in most exquisite forms are found
on every side. A fancy at the pres
ent time Is to have the granite out to
represent the stump of a tree. The
effect is rustic and rather pretty, but
those who are acquainted with the
business say this work laes not re-
quire very careful cutting. Another
peculiar memorial stone and one re.
quiring much work in preparation
was made to look like a pile of small
stanes, though in reality all one:
The rapid growth of barre has nee
essitated new and larger school
buildings. The spauldIng graded
school is the largest and is a fine
building of red brick with trimmings
of home granite. The refuse from
the quarrics and shops is utilized for
paving stones.
In the past ten years Barre granite
has gone everywhere and many cele.
brated monuments are constructed
from it. Among them + the lie.
land Stanford mausoleum at Menlo
Park, Palo Alto, California; the Sold
ier's Monument, Delphi, Indiana; the
monument to ID. II. Locke (Fetrole
um v. Nashby) Toledo, Ohio; and
the memorial to Grant, in Lincoln
Park, Chicago.
Tho iWaapite is just as good as for
merly abl the facilities for transpor'
tation sar better; but we are tolt
there is far less profit in the bust
ness than 4 few years ago owing t.
the many firms and close cempeti
ton:
The stone business has given new
impetus to every department of la
Dor in Barre and we notice especially
the amount of m:.lline making ant
machine repairing it has brough,
about.
All in all Barre Is one Of the livli
est, most successful towns in the
Green Mountain State.
TRAVELLER.
Kenneth Bahem0re had the pOO(