St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1915-04-21
VERMONTS RESOURCES
The State A Leader In Many Mineral
and Manufacturing Industries.

ana NanuIaCUuflD2
(From The Grange Bulletin.)
Vermont's resources can easily be
grouped in three classes, the min
eral the manufacturing and the wa
ter power resources. No class is en-
tirely distinct, as each is dependent
on the other, for illustration the man
ufacture of most of our mineral prod
ucts through the water power of the
state.
! Vermont stands seventh from the
foot of the class in all the states of
the union, in regards to size and yet,
the little Green Mountain state, COM
prising less than 10000 square miles,
so small when compared with the far
stretching prairies and uplands
of this vast country which stretches
from ocean to ocean, contains the
largest and most valuable deposits
of marble, granite and asbestos, of
any state in the union, and ranks sec
ond in the production of slate, tale
and sOapstone.
Probably nowhere else in the
known world can be found in an area
equally small, such valuable and ex-
tensive deposits of stone counted by
mankind everywhere the most beau
tiful for the homes of the living and
found within the boundaries of the
state of Vermont.
The quarrying and cutting of mar
BILE is one of the oldest of Vermont's
industries, and at the present time,
one of the largest. Marble has been
quarried in Vermont for considerably
more than a century. Although %
states and the territory of Alaska
produce marble, Vermont supplies
nearly 20 per cent of the monumental
and statuary marble, and Al per cent
of the building marble.
Beginning of Marble.
Before the American Revolution,
John Sutherland settled on the falls
of Otter Greek which were known
thereafter as Sutherland Falls. Here
he built a saw mill and a grist mill
on the site of the present village of
Proctor. In 1888, William F. Barnes
established a lime kiln near the old
red store, so called. After calcining
the marble for a time, into quick
lime, it occurred to him that this
limestone might be used for monu-
ments and gravestones. Most of the
grave stones of the early days were
of slate as a visit to any old grave
yard will show. Entering into nego-
tiations with the owner, he purchased
what was considered a tract of bar
rem swampy land, including a por-
ton of hill, and gave in exchange
an old horse worth not more than
SIS. This land, considered practical
ly worthless, contained nearly all of
the valuable marble quarries of West
Rutland, now considered worth mill
lions of dollars. Before the death of
Mr.. Barnes, he sold for $3.50, 900 land
for which he had snapped his old
horse.
The real development of the marble
industry though has been through
Redfeld Proctor, and has grown until
there are now branch offices of the
business he built up, at Boston, New
York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chi
cago, st. Louis, Tacoma and San Fran
cisco.
1t might be of interest to know
that contract has just been awarded
the Vermont Marble Co. to supply
the marble for the $750,00O memo
rial to be erected at Arlington, by the
United States to honor the memory
of Americas soldiers and sailors 1t
is Dandy marble that has been chos-
sen for this work, though the finish !
work will be done at Proctor and
Center Rutland. In Washington |
there are already erected the follow
ing buildings of Vermont marble, |
The Senate Office building, |
the government printing office, the
of agriculture building, |
also the United States mint building, |
Colo, the Christian Science
building in Boston, as in fact in most |
of the large cities all over the coun-
try.
States Granite Industry.
Granite is more widely distributed |
in Vermont than either marble or
slate, the largest and best though l
being located at Barre, and its vicin-
Ity The granite that is worked
nearest us is the so-called green gran
tie of Windsor and West Windsor,
luarried from Ascutney Mountain.
The area from which stone is
.aken is about two and a
half miles square. The stone is
known to the trade as bronze-veined
green and takes a very high polish.
The stone is carted to Windsor for
In the two largest
granite companies of Vermont there
ire employed about 5000 men, so
,ne can see how important the indus
.ry is.
Barre granite is as well known
through the United States as her mar
Die as there are beautiful monuments,
and mausoleums of it in
most of the largest cemeteries of the
lnion. Many famous buildings are
made of 1t too.
Ranking third in the mineral pro-
Iuction of our state is slate, and shel
tands second in all the United States.
The principal slate belt of Vermontl
3 in Rutland County, and it con- |
4ftufae nua NJ fha largest and hast 4