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List of Quarries & Related Businesses in Vermont & Quarry
Links, Photographs and Articles

  • Moretown, Vermont - Steatite/Soapstone Deposits (Excerpt from Report of the United States National Museum Under the Direction of the Smithsonian Institutions For the Year Ending June 30, 1886, Chapter entitled “The Collection of Building and Ornamental Stones In The U. S. National Museum: A Hand-book and Catalogue,” By George P. Merrill, Curator, Department Lithology and Physical Geology, pp. 285-291. “Soap-Stones of the Various States and Territories,” pp. 359-360.)

    Vermont. - Most of the steatite of this State is found on the east side of the Green Mountains and near the eastern line of the talcose slate formation, beds of it extending nearly the entire length of the State. The rock occurs usually associated with serpentine and hornblende. The beds are not continuous and have, as a rule, a great thickness in comparison with their length. It not infrequently happens that several isolated outcrops occur on the same line of strata, sometimes several miles apart, and in many cases alternating with beds of dolomitic lime stone that are scattered along with them.

    “At least sixty beds of this rock occur in the State in the towns of…Moretown….”

  • Morrisville, Vermont – John Brechin (Wholesale Manufacturer) (The following advertisement is from The Monumental News, August, 1895, Vol. 7, No. 8, Chicago, Illinois, pp. 476.)

    John Brechin, Wholesale Manufacture of Granite and Statuary

    My works is on the line of the Boston & Maine R. R. one of the best stopping points in New England. Estimates cheerfully given on work you want to buy.

    Barre, Quincy, Hardwick, Concord, Scotch, Swede, Pear, Norwegian.

  • Newark, Caledonia County, Vermont - Packer Granite Quarry (from The Commercial Granites of New England, Bulletin 738, by T. Nelson Dale, Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1923.)

    The Packer Quarry was located in the “eastern part of Newark, on the west side of a ridge between Center or Island Pond on the west and the East Branch of the Passumpsic on the east. This ridge lies north of Burke Mountain and southeast of Ball Hill. there is a marked east-west sag in the ridge. The opening is a little north of the sage on a gently sloping bench below the steeper part of the ridge and 363 feet above Center Pond, about east-southeast from its south side.”

    Accessory minerals: Magnetite, pyrite, titanite, and allanite. Secondary minerals: Kaolin, a white mica, epidote, and calcite.

    The Packer Quarry had been operated by the Newark Granite Company (address H. D. Packer) of West Burke, Vermont. At the time of the 1923 report, the quarry had been idle since 1915. The granite from the quarry is a light pinkish-gray color with a coarse texture. The nearest railroad at that time was 8 miles away.

  • Newfane, Vermont - Steatite/Soapstone Deposits (Excerpt from Report of the United States National Museum Under the Direction of the Smithsonian Institutions For the Year Ending June 30, 1886, Chapter entitled “The Collection of Building and Ornamental Stones In The U. S. National Museum: A Hand-book and Catalogue,” By George P. Merrill, Curator, Department Lithology and Physical Geology, pp. 285-291. “Soap-Stones of the Various States and Territories,” pp. 359-360.)

    Vermont. - Most of the steatite of this State is found on the east side of the Green Mountains and near the eastern line of the talcose slate formation, beds of it extending nearly the entire length of the State. The rock occurs usually associated with serpentine and hornblende. The beds are not continuous and have, as a rule, a great thickness in comparison with their length. It not infrequently happens that several isolated outcrops occur on the same line of strata, sometimes several miles apart, and in many cases alternating with beds of dolomitic lime stone that are scattered along with them.

    “At least sixty beds of this rock occur in the State in the towns of…Newfane….”

    “Of the beds named those in Grafton and Athens are stated to have been longest worked and to have produced the most stone. The beds lie in gneiss. The quarries were profitably worked as early as 1820…The bed at Newfane occurs in connection with serpentine, and is some half a mile in length but not less than 12 rods in width at its northern extremity. The soap-stone and serpentine are strangely mixed, and the general course of the bed being like that of an irregular vein of granite in limestone.”

  • North Granville (northeast of), Vermont - Mrs. Richard Sennett - Red Slate Deposit on the “Hatch Hill Vein” (from Slate: It’s Products and Interests, Vol. 1, No. 3, August 1910, pp. 14)

    “Red Slate Near Granville

    “On the property of Mrs. Richard Sennett, about two miles northeast of North Granville, a valuable deposit of red slate has been discovered. It is located on what is known as the ‘Hatch Hill Vein.’ Mrs. Sennett is the mother of William and Michael Sennett, of this city, and James Sennett of Poultney, formerly of Glens Falls.”

  • Northfield (near), Washington County, Vermont – the Adams Slate and Tile Co.

    See: Northfield (near), Washington County, Vermont – the Northfield Black Slate Company (circa 1899) below.

  • Northfield, Vermont - Arch Bridge and Paine Mountain, Northfield Vt.
    (colorized postcard photograph; early 1900s; unmailed. Arch Bridge and Paine Mountain, Northfield Vt.
  • Northfield, Vermont – Cannon Bros. (Monument Manufacturers) (The following advertisement is from The Monumental News, August, 1895, Vol. 7, No. 8, Chicago, Illinois, pp. 527.)

    Cannon Bros., Northfield, VT.

    Manufacturers of all kinds of Barre Granite Monumental Work.

    Correspondence solicited.

    • Northfield, Vermont – Cannon Bros. (Monument Manufacturers & Dealers)  (The following advertisement is from The Monumental News, January 1896, Vol. 3, No. 1, Chicago, Illinois, pp. 88.)
  • Cannon Bros., Northfield, Vermont, advertisement (The Monumental News, Jan. 1896, pp. 88) Cannon Bros., Northfield, Vermont, advertisement (The Monumental News, Jan. 1896, pp. 8)
  • Cannon Bros., Successors to Cannon & Smith,
    Manufacturers of and Dealers in Light and Dark Barre Granite
    Monumental and Cemetery Work, Lettering, Carving and Drapery.
    Orders filled as quickly as is consistent with good workmanship.  Send us your designs for estimates.
    Northfield, VT.

  • Northfield, Vermont – Cross Brothers Granite Works & Polishing Mill  (from “An Enterprising Granite Firm,” in The Monumental News, November 1894)

    “The granite manufacturing and importing firm of Cross Brothers, of Northfield, Vermont, whose portraits and plant are illustrated on this page, was established in 1890….”  (You can read the rest of the article using the link in the previous paragraph.)

    “Cross Brothers Granite Works and Polishing Mill, Northfield, Vermont” (1894) “Marlbrough W. Cross” (1894) “George A. Cross” (1894)

    “Cross Brothers Granite Works and Polishing Mill, Northfield, Vermont”

    “Marlbrough W. Cross”

    “George A. Cross”

    “John A. Cross” (1894) “Levi T. Cross” (1894)

    “John A. Cross”

    “Levi T. Cross”

    • Northfield, Vermont – Cross Brothers (Manufacturers and Importers) (The following advertisement is from The Monumental News, August, 1895, Vol. 7, No. 8, Chicago, Illinois, pp. 468.)

    Cross Brothers, Northfield, Vt., Manufacturers and Importers.

    Better shape Than Ever.

    These words describe our facilities for manufacturing granite. We now have everything in good working order and will handle work promptly.

    Our “Paste” for removing Iron Rust etc. is having a large sale and is pronounced by dealers the best preparation every made for cleaning granite.

    • Northfield, Vermont – Cross Brothers  (Advertisement from The Monumental News, April 1903, pp. 227)

      Mausoleums, Receiving Vaults, Buildings, Building Fronts, and all kinds of architectural granite work, monuments, statuary and all kinds of monumental work.  We make a specialty of mausoleums and receiving vaults…
      Our new Light Pink is one of the best and prettiest colored granites in the country, and our facilities for manufacturing and handling this enables us to quote very low prices.  This is a very fine grained, soft colored granite, and fills a space which has always been vacation…
      Cross Brothers, Northfield, VT.

    Cross Brothers, Northfield, Vermont  (Advertisement from The Monumental News, April 1903, pp. 227) Cross Brothers, Northfield, Vermont (Advertisement from The Monumental News, April 1903, pp. 227)
    • Northfield, Vermont – the Cross Brothers Company – Mausoleum Advertisement  (from The Monumental News, May 1917, pp. 266)

      Mausoleum Distinctiveness

      There is a great deal of difference in the appearance of a mausoleum built by an experienced producer and one that is built by amateurs in this particular line.  The above illustration of a structure in Kensico Cemetery, New York, as shows Cross Brothers’ distinctiveness in the same way that our small monumental work shows superiority in the cemetery or the dealer’s show room….”

      Cross Brothers Company, Northfield, Vermont – “House of Quality”

      • Cross Brothers, Northfield, Vermont, Mausoleum Advertisement from The Monumental News, May 1917, pp. 266) (photo caption under mausoleum photograph)  “Built by us for the Davis Granite Co. of New York.  Best Light Barre Granite.” Cross Brothers, Northfield, Vermont, Mausoleum Advertisement from The Monumental News, May 1917, pp. 266)
    • Northfield, Vermont – the Cross Brothers Company  (Advertisement from Granite Marble & Bronze, Vol. XXVII, No. 7, July 1917, pp. 5)

    Cross Brothers Company, Northfield, VT.

      “Cross Perfection Polished Work – Polishing granite is really a complicated operation, requiring accurate equipment, skilled workmen and close inspection….”

    Cross Brothers Company, Northfield, Vermont  (Advertisement from Granite Marble & Bronze, July 1917, pp. 5) Cross Brothers Company, Northfield, Vermont (Advertisement from Granite Marble & Bronze, July 1917, pp. 5)
    • Northfield, Vermont – the Cross Brothers Company  (Advertisement from Granite Marble & Bronze, Vol. XXVII, No. 12, December 1917, pp. 35)

      Cross Brothers Company, Northfield, Vt.

      Our granite saw and its place in producing cross perfection polished work.  The preparation of the stone before it reaches the polishing bed has everything to do with the finished polished work.  For that reason, together with our determination to produce the best possible polished work, we installed our big saw and can furnish Barre Granite sawed and polished on the head grain.

      If you will take a piece of Cross Perfection Polished work – sawed and polished on the head grain – and compare it with an ordinary piece polished on the rift, you will see a marked difference.

      The above view of our big saw was taken just as it had started on a big block of granite to be cut for work going into a big mausoleum to be placed in Greenwood Cemetery Brooklyn, N. Y., for A. C. Bedford, president of the Standard Oil Co.

    • Cross Brothers Company advertisement from Granite Marble & Bronze, December 1917, pp. 35 Photograph in the Cross Brothers Company advertisement from Granite Marble & Bronze, December 1917, pp. 35

      Cross Brothers Company  advertisement from Granite Marble & Bronze, December 1917, pp. 35

      Photograph in the Cross Brothers Company  advertisement from Granite Marble & Bronze, December 1917, pp. 35

    • Northfield, Vermont – Cross Brothers Company  (Advertisement from Granite Marble and Bronze, Vol. XXXI No. 7, July 1921, pp. 59)

      Cross Brothers Co., Northfield, VT.

      There is a fineness of finish peculiar to a Cross Brothers mausoleum that gives a singular beauty to the completed work.  It comes from the hands of our worker exquisite in detail.  A judicious handling of every piece of granite that passes through our works brings Cross Brothers results.  The preference for Cross Brothers work is plainly evidenced as time goes on.  We set our standard for unusually attractive memorials – and we have maintained that standard.

    • Executed for us for Davis Granite Co., New York City.” (from advertisement from Granite Marble and Bronze, Vol. XXXI No. 7, July 1921, pp. 59) “Executed for us for Davis Granite Co., New York City.” (from advertisement from Granite Marble and Bronze, Vol. XXXI No. 7, July 1921, pp. 59)
    • Northfield, Vermont – Cross Brothers Company – the Roger Sullivan Monument in Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois  (“Movies of Monument Setting,” in The Monumental News, Vol. 34, No. 3, March 1922, pp. 170-171.

      “The various stages in the setting of a big monument or mausoleum make up a series of interesting studies in stone handling.  Seldom do we get so complete a set of pictures of every step in handling and erection of a big memorial as those presented here of the transportation and setting of the Roger Sullivan monument erected last summer in Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Chicago, in memory of the well-known Illinois Democratic leader….”

      The Roger Sullivan memorial is one of the largest crosses in the west.

      “Charles G. Blake & Co., of Chicago were he contractors for the work and it was set for them by Henry Heckelmann, Inc.  Ernest and Walter Heckelmann, of the latter firm, were on the job personally from the time the cars reached Chicago, and the worked was expeditiously and carefully handled throughout.

      “The work was cut in Barre granite by Cross Brothers Co., of Northfield, Vt., and was shipped in three cars….”

  • Northfield, Washington County, Vermont – the F. L. Howe & Co. (circa 1899) (Marble & Granite) (Excerpt from Gazetteer of Washington County, Vermont, 1783-1889, Part First, compiled and published by Hamilton Child, Edited by William Adams, Syracuse, N.Y.: The Syracuse Journal Co., Printers and Binders, April 1899, pp. 412. (This book is available on Google Book Search – Full View Books for reading or downloading to your computer in PDF format.)

    “The firm of F. L. Howe & Co. was formed in 1881. They have shops on Main street, where they are manufacturing monumental marble mork (sic), and dealing in granite monuments, curbing, etc.”

  • Northfield, Washington County, Vermont – the Howe & Co.

    See: Northfield, Washington County, Vermont – the F. L. Howe & Co. (circa 1899) above.

  • Northfield (near), Washington County, Vermont – the Hillside Slate Co.

    See: Northfield (near), Washington County, Vermont – the Northfield Black Slate Company (circa 1899) below.

  • Northfield (near), Washington County, Vermont – the Northfield Black Slate Company (circa 1899) (Slate) (Excerpt from Gazetteer of Washington County, Vermont, 1783-1889, Part First, compiled and published by Hamilton Child, Edited by William Adams, Syracuse, N.Y.: The Syracuse Journal Co., Printers and Binders, April 1899, pp. 410-411. (This book is available on Google Book Search – Full View Books for reading or downloading to your computer in PDF format.)

    “The Northfield Black Slate Company was incorporated in July, 1885, with George Nichols, president; C. A. Edgerton, clerk and treasurer; and A. E. Denny, Manager. The quarry is located near Northfield village, and was opened about twenty years ago by parties from Boston under the firm name of ‘Adams Slate and Tile Co.,’ which continued the business about fifteen years, when it was succeeded by the Hillside Slate Co. This firm continued the business until the property passed to the present company. The production is now about 3,000 squares per year. For depth and durability of color, softness and tenacity of texture, this slate is unsurpassed by any in America.”

  • Northfield, Vermont - Northfield, Vermont History, by Julia McIntire (Includes granite and slate industry histories) © Copyright Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce.
  • Northfield, Washington County, Vermont – Philips & Slack, Barre Granite Monuments (Advertisement from Granite Marble & Bronze, Vol. XVIII, No. 1, January 1908, pp. 56)

    Phillips & Slack, Barre Granite Monuments, Northfield, Vermont

    Modern cutting plant equipped with modern machinery.  Polishing mill and surfacing machines, etc., operated by electric power.  Employ 40 men the year round.  And we have the knowledge that turns out satisfactory work.

  • Phillips & Slack, Barre Granite Monuments, Northfield, Vermont. Modern cutting plant equipped with modern machinery. Phillips & Slack, Barre Granite Monuments, Northfield, Vermont. from Granite Marble & Bronze, Vol. XVIII, No. 1, January 1908, pp. 56
    • Northfield, Vermont – Phillips & Slack  (Advertisement from Granite Marble and Bronze, Vol. XXVI No. 12, December 1916, pp. 5)

      Phillips & Slack, Northfield Vermont
      Manufacturers of Barre Granite Memorials

      Above is a view of our Chase Patent Saw, showing how stone is cut perfectly straight, regardless of size or shape, by this machine.  We are able to saw an length of stone any width up to 7’ 0”; any height up to 5’ 6” on one or all sides as desired, getting a straight, smooth surface that is easily bushed, and when polished is as near perfect as polishing can be, showing letters and ornamental work better, as the polish shows darker when produced in this manner.  Hammered work on this sawed surface has the quality of ironed and bushed work, showing no waves or dumps.  We are producing designs of plain work – stock jobs that are sellers – and we are offering these to our customers.  Let us figure on your plain polished work or plain cut work.  A trial order will convince you.

    Phillips & Slack, Northfield, Vermont.  Advertisement from Granite Marble and Bronze, December 1916. (The advertisement includes a photograph of the Chase Patent Saw and monuments.) Phillips & Slack, Northfield, Vermont. Advertisement from Granite Marble and Bronze, December 1916
  • Northfield, Washington County, Vermont – the Charles D. Sawyer, Marble Worker (circa 1899) (Marble) (Excerpt from Gazetteer of Washington County, Vermont, 1783-1889, Part First, compiled and published by Hamilton Child, Edited by William Adams, Syracuse, N.Y.: The Syracuse Journal Co., Printers and Binders, April 1899, pp. 412. (This book is available on Google Book Search – Full View Books for reading or downloading to your computer in PDF format.)

    Charles D. Sawyer, a marble worker, has been engaged in the business the last eight years in Northfield, where he still does all kinds of monumental marble work.”

  • Pittsford, Vermont – F. Howland Farm – Gates & Co. – Marble Quarry (From Stone: An Illustrated Magazine, Vol. XII, No. 1, December, 1895, "Notes From Quarry and Shop" section, Stone Publishing Co., New York, pp. 78.)

    "Pittsford, Vt., – a new marble quarry will be opened by Gates & Co. on the F. Howland farm, near the Venetian marble works."

  • Pittsford, Vermont - the Florence No. 1 (Hogback) Marble Quarry (from Commercial Marbles of Western Vermont, Bulletin 521, by T. Nelson Dale, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1912.)

    “The Florence No. 1 is a new opening, southwest of the now disused ‘Valley quarry,’ about three-fourths of a mile west of Florence station, in Pittsford Township. (See Pl. I.) It is 90 feet east to west by 70 feet across. One-half of it is 112 feet deep and the other 70 feet. In May, 1911, the quarry passed into the hands of the Vermont Marble Co., Proctor, Vt.

    “The marble beds exposed and prospected here, beginning above and on the west, are as follows:

    Section of marble beds at Florence No. 1 quarry.

    Light mottled marble including a 9-foot bed of darkish gray, ‘mountain dark’ - 234 feet

    White marble - 18 feet

    Intermediate dolomite - 254 feet

    “The position of the beds is thus above the intermediate dolomite and corresponds to that of the beds in the Florence 2 quarry. (See p. 92.)

    “The marble, ‘Florence No. 1,’ is a calcite marble of light bluish-gray color with fine dark-gray streaks (graphitic and dolomitic beds) parallel to the bedding. On the bed face these dolomite beds appear as an irregular mottling. It is practically identical with “Florence No. 2,” described on page 129. Its texture is medium (grade 4), but it is regarded as slightly coarser than ‘Pittsford Italian.’

    “The beds strike N. 25° W. and dip 70° –75 ° ENE. The marble and the intermediate dolomite east of it both belong to the east limb of an eastward-inclined syncline. Therefore as the quarry is deepened the underlying intermediate dolomite should eventually be struck, although no indications of dolomite or of any turning of the beds have been found at a depth of 70 feet below the bottom of the quarry. Conspicuous joints dip to the southwest at low angles. Percolating water has by means of its content of carbonic acid formed a series of caves, first along the bedding and then along these joints, as shown in Plate XVII. One of these caves 100 feet below the surface is 10 feet high. These caves occasion much inconvenience in adjusting the cutting machines. An east-west compressive strain has been noticed at this quarry.”

  • Pittsford, Vermont - the Florence No. 2 Marble Quarry (from Commercial Marbles of Western Vermont, Bulletin 521, by T. Nelson Dale, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1912.)

    “The Florence No. 2 quarry is 0.9 mile southwest of Fowler station and 1 ¼ miles nearly west of Pittsford station, in Pittsford Township. ( See Pl. I and map of Castleton quadrangle, U. S. Geol. Survey.) The quarry measures 70 feet north to south by 45 feet across, and is 63 feet in depth. In May, 1911, it passed into the hands of the Vermont Marble Co.

    “The marble, “Florence No. 2” (specimens D, XXXI, 27, a, rough; b, polished), is a calcite marble of very light bluish-gray color with whitish and dark-gray (graphitic and dolomitic) streaks and spots parallel to the bedding. It is uneven in texture, with grain diameter, in the calcitic parts, of 0.075 to 1, mostly 0.12 to 0.37 millimeter, and is thus of grade 4 (medium). The very irregular dolomitic lenses, which in thin section are not sharply separated from the calcite ground, have a grain diameter mostly of 0.05 to 0.25 millimeter and are thus of grade 3 (fine). The dolomite is untwinned and some of the grains have rhombic outlines. Associated with it are a few small quartz grains and muscovite scales. Minute black grains (probably graphite) occur throughout, but more abundantly in the dolomitic lenses, and also a little pyrite. The marble takes a high polish, but the dolomite mottling shows in minute relief on the polished face.

    “The general structure here is shown in section I, Plate III. The beds strike N. 25° W. and dip 82° N. 65° E. The west wall shows very irregular jointing. (See fig. 19.)”

  • Pittsford, Vermont - the Florentine Marble Quarry (from Commercial Marbles of Western Vermont, Bulletin 521, by T. Nelson Dale, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1912.)

    “The Florentine quarry is at the east foot of the Taconic Range, 1 ½ miles N. 72° E. of Biddie Knob and 1 ¼ miles west of Florence station, in Pittsford Township. (See Pl. I and map of Castleton quadrangle, U. S. Geol. Survey.) The quarry, a new opening a little west of a disused quarry, measures about 200 feet north to south by 100 feet across and is 100 feet deep in one half and 42 feet in the other. In May, 1911, it passed into the hands of the Vermont Marble Co., Proctor, Vt.

    “The marble beds exposed and prospected here include 150 feet of graphitic marbles immediately underlying the base of the schist of the Taconic Range and thus belong to the upper graphitic series. In the quarry there is an irregular bed of graphitic untwinned dolomite veined with quartz and white calcite.

    “The marble, ‘Florentine blue’ (specimens D, XXXI, 24, c, rough; d, polished), is a graphitic calcite marble of dark bluish-gray color, with fine very dark and light gray unplicated bands, and of even, regular texture, with grain diameter of 0.05 to 0.75, mostly 0.12 to 0.25 millimeter, and thus of grade 3 (fine). It abounds in minute particles of graphite and contains rather plentiful pyrite up to 0.12 millimeter in diameter and rare grains of quartz. This stone takes a very high polish without any protuberances.

    “The marble strikes N. 25° W. and dips 60° E. at the surface of the quarry, turning 70° at the bottom. In the disused quarry about 200 feet farther east the dip is at a low angle to the west. At the contact with overlying schist 60 feet west of the quarry the schist is graphitic and has a cleavage foliation striking N. 5° W. and dipping 20° –25° E. The marble at the contact curves from 90° to steep west, and the bedding of the schist, obscured by cleavage, is presumably parallel to it. The marble beds belong to the east limb of a syncline. Between the quarry and the schist contact the marble beds, recently divested of their protective covering of till, are highly glaciated, as shown in Plate XV, B.”

  • Pittsford, Vermont - the Hollister Marble Quarry (from Commercial Marbles of Western Vermont, Bulletin 521, by T. Nelson Dale, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1912.)

    “The Hollister quarries are 1 ¼ miles northwest of Florence station and half a mile west of Florence Cross Roads, in Pittsford Township. ( See Pl. I and map of Castleton quadrangle, U. S. Geol. Survey.) The quarries comprise two openings on the same beds–the southern one, the original Hollister quarry, which at the surface measures 150 feet north to south by 25 feet across, but at the bottom, 316 feet down, is 189 by 125 feet, and a new one, 200 feet north, the Valley quarry, which measures 100 feet north to south by 25 feet across at the surface, but 125 feet at the bottom, 85 feet down. From the south end of the original quarry a tunnel, 60 feet wide and 40 feet high, has been drilled 70 feet west.

    “Operator, Vermont Marble Co., Proctor, Vt.

    “The marble beds exposed and prospected here, given in more detail on page 91, comprise, beginning on the west and above:

    Section of marble beds at Hollister quarry.

    Light bluish-gray marbles - 90 feet

    Clouded marble - 16 feet

    ‘Blue vein’ - 14 feet

    Alternating clouded, muscovitic, and light bluish-gray marbles - 102 feet

    (Total) - 222 feet

    “This set of beds apparently lies a little above the intermediate dolomite. (See p. 93.)

    “The marble, “Pittsford Valley ” (specimens D, XIX, 148, a, rough, from bed A; and D, XXXI, 16, a polished), is a calcite marble of light bluish-gray color with little medium to dark gray (graphitic and dolomitic plicated beds which on the bed surface appear as irregular mottling. Its texture is uneven. The grain diameter in the calcitic parts is 0.05 to 0.75, mostly 0.12 to 0.37 millimeter, and thus of grade 4 (medium). In the dolomitic parts the grain diameter is 0.02 to 0.25, mostly 0.07 to 0.12 millimeter, and thus of grade 2 (very fine). Minute black particles (probably graphite) occur throughout but are more plentiful in the dolomitic parts, which also contain very little pyrite and muscovite. The marble takes a high polish, but the dolomitic mottling projects in very minute relief.

    “A specimen of bed K (D, XIX, 148, c, rough) is a calcite marble of light bluish-gray color without mottling and of regular, even texture, with grain diameter of 0.05 to 0.87, mostly 0.12 to 0.5 millimeter, and thus also of grade 4 (medium) but a trifle coarser than that of bed A. (See fig. 21.) The average grain diameter of the calcitic parts, determined by the Rosiwal method, is 0.1484 millimeter.

    “In general the marbles of these quarries are more bluish than those of the Proctor and Riverside quarries.

    “The beds strike N. 5° W. and dip 80° E. to 90°. Although the beds at a depth of 316 feet are still vertical, they will be found eventually to be underlain by the dolomite, which crops out east of the quarry. The character of the folds here is not clear. There are four sets of joints–set a, strike N. 80° E., vertical, spaced 2 to 5 feet for a distance of 50 feet between the two openings; set b, strike east to west, dip 10° N., few, spaced 3 to 20 feet; set c, same strike, dip 55° N., spaced 3 to 50 feet; set d, same strike, dip 10° –15° S. The quarry is at the east foot of a marble cliff 100 feet high. On the east side of the northern opening the marble at the surface is not over 5 feet thick. In drilling eastward at a depth of 75 feet the marble was found to extend but 25 feet. It is possible that the beds have suffered considerable erosion at this point.

    “Specimens: Champlain apartment house, Washington, D. C.; fourteen columns 29 feet 9 inches long and from 2 feet 10 inches to 3 feet 4 inches in diameter in Curtis Publishing Co.’s building, Philadelphia. These columns were cut parallel to the bed and show small grayish plicated dolomitic beds. (See also Pl. VI, B.)”

  • Pittsford, Vermont - the Hollister Marble Quarry (from Commercial Marbles of Western Vermont, Bulletin 521, by T. Nelson Dale, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1912.)

    “The Hollister quarries are 1 ¼ miles northwest of Florence station and half a mile west of Florence Cross Roads, in Pittsford Township. (See Pl. I and map of Castleton quadrangle, U.S. Geol. Survey.) The quarries comprise two openings on the same beds–the southern one, the original Hollister quarry, which at the surface measures 150 feet north to south by 25 feet across, but at the bottom, 316 feet down, is 189 by 125 feet, and a new one, 200 feet north, the Valley quarry, which measures 100 feet north to south by 25 feet across at the surface, but 125 feet at the bottom, 85 feet down. From the south end of the original quarry a tunnel, 60 feet wide and 40 feet high, has been drilled 70 feet west.

    “Operator, Vermont Marble Co., Proctor, Vt.

    “The marble beds exposed and prospected here, given in more detail on page 91, comprise, beginning on the west and above:

    Section of marble beds at Hollister quarry.

    Light bluish-gray marbles - 90 feet

    Clouded marble - 16 feet

    ‘Blue vein’ - 14 feet

    Alternating clouded, muscovitic, and light bluish-gray marbles - 102 feet

    (Total) - 222 feet

    “This set of beds apparently lies a little above the intermediate dolomite. (See p. 93.)

    “The marble, “Pittsford Valley” (specimens D, XIX, 148, a, rough, from bed A; and D, XXXI, 16, a polished), is a calcite marble of light bluish-gray color with little medium to dark gray (graphitic and dolomitic plicated beds which on the bed surface appear as irregular mottling. Its texture is uneven. The grain diameter in the calcitic parts is 0.05 to 0.75, mostly 0.12 to 0.37 millimeter, and thus of grade 4 (medium). In the dolomitic parts the grain diameter is 0.02 to 0.25, mostly 0.07 to 0.12 millimeter, and thus of grade 2 (very fine). Minute black particles (probably graphite) occur throughout but are more plentiful in the dolomitic parts, which also contain very little pyrite and muscovite. The marble takes a high polish, but the dolomitic mottling projects in very minute relief.

    “A specimen of bed K (D, XIX, 148, c, rough) is a calcite marble of light bluish-gray color without mottling and of regular, even texture, with grain diameter of 0.05 to 0.87, mostly 0.12 to 0.5 millimeter, and thus also of grade 4 (medium) but a trifle coarser than that of bed A. (See fig. 21.) The average grain diameter of the calcitic parts, determined by the Rosiwal method, is 0.1484 millimeter.

    “In general the marbles of these quarries are more bluish than those of the Proctor and Riverside quarries.

    “The beds strike N. 5° W. and dip 80° E. to 90°. Although the beds at a depth of 316 feet are still vertical, they will be found eventually to be underlain by the dolomite, which crops out east of the quarry. The character of the folds here is not clear. There are four sets of joints–set a, strike N. 80° E., vertical, spaced 2 to 5 feet for a distance of 50 feet between the two openings; set b, strike east to west, dip 10° N., few, spaced 3 to 20 feet; set c, same strike, dip 55° N., spaced 3 to 50 feet; set d, same strike, dip 10° –15° S. The quarry is at the east foot of a marble cliff 100 feet high. On the east side of the northern opening the marble at the surface is not over 5 feet thick. In drilling eastward at a depth of 75 feet the marble was found to extend but 25 feet. It is possible that the beds have suffered considerable erosion at this point.

    “Specimens: Champlain apartment house, Washington, D. C.; fourteen columns 29 feet 9 inches long and from 2 feet 10 inches to 3 feet 4 inches in diameter in Curtis Publishing Co.’s building, Philadelphia. These columns were cut parallel to the bed and show small grayish plicated dolomitic beds. (See also Pl. VI, B.)”

  • Pittsford, Vermont - Pittsford Italian Marble Quarry
    (postcard photograph, no postmark, early 1900s) Postcard photograph - Pittsford, VT.
  • Pittsford, Vermont - the Prospect West of Florence No. 2 Marble Quarry (from Commercial Marbles of Western Vermont, Bulletin 521, by T. Nelson Dale, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1912.)

    “An east-west trench dug in 1900 across the low ridge immediately west of the site of the Florence No. 2 quarry exposed a handsome white marble interbedded with a coarser one of medium bluish gray banded with black (specimen D, XIX, 202, b), containing a few scales of biotite.”

  • Pittsford, Vermont - the Turner Marble Quarry (from Commercial Marbles of Western Vermont, Bulletin 521, by T. Nelson Dale, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1912.)

    “The Turner quarry is less than 1,000 feet northeast of the Florence No. 2 and about three-fourths of a mile southwest of Florence station, in Pittsford Township. (See Pl. I.) The opening, which is of recent date, is about 500 feet north of the Central Vermont Marble Co.’s quarry, which was operated in 1900 but is now disused. It is about 140 feet north to south by 70 feet across and 86 feet deep in one half and 49 feet in the other. It has a tunnel at the south end, 43 feet below the rock surface, 70 feet wide, and extending 35 feet to the south.

    “In May, 1911, this quarry passed into the hands of the Vermont Marble Co., Proctor, Vt. The marble exposed in the quarry and cropped out on both sides of it consists of the following beds, beginning at the top and west:

    Section of marble beds at Turner quarry.

    Intermediate dolomite - 242 feet

    White mottled marbles - 207 feet

    Dolomite series. - 449 feet

    “Its position is therefore identical with that of the marble in the Proctor quarry (p. 127).

    “The marble, ‘Pittsford Italian’ (specimens D, XXXI, 21, c, rough; f, polished; a, rough and polished), is a calcite marble of slightly bluish-white color, with finely plicated beds and irregular mottlings of medium gray (graphitic dolomite). One of these little beds is shown in figure 20. They are from half an inch to 3 inches apart. The calcitic part has a grain diameter of 0.05 of 0.87, mostly 0.12 to 0.37 millimeter, and is thus of grade 4 (medium). The grain diameter of the little dolomite beds and lenses (not crossed by the sections obtained) is probably, like that in the “Pittsford Italian,” mostly 0.05 of 0.25 millimeter; and these are thus of grade 3 (fine). The general texture is irregular and uneven. There are very minute black particles (graphite?), a few of pyrite, and rare small quartz grains. The marble takes a high polish, but the darker dolomitic passages project in very minute relief on the polished face.

    “The beds strike N. 25° –30° W. and dip 75° ENE. The dolomite on the west strikes N. 20° W. and dips 70° N. 70° E. Both the underlying and overlying dolomite and the intervening marble belong to the east limb of an eastward-inclined syncline, as shown in section I, Plate III. The economic significance of this relation is that eventually, as the quarry deepens, the underlying dolomite will be encountered.”

  • Plainfield, Vermont - History Plainfield History, by Cora Copping (Iincludes granite industry) © Copyright Central Vermont chamber of Commerce.
  • Plymouth, Vermont - Steatite/Soapstone Deposits (Excerpt from Report of the United States National Museum Under the Direction of the Smithsonian Institutions For the Year Ending June 30, 1886, Chapter entitled “The Collection of Building and Ornamental Stones In The U. S. National Museum: A Hand-book and Catalogue,” By George P. Merrill, Curator, Department Lithology and Physical Geology, pp. 285-291. “Soap-Stones of the Various States and Territories,” pp. 359-360.)

    Vermont. - Most of the steatite of this State is found on the east side of the Green Mountains and near the eastern line of the talcose slate formation, beds of it extending nearly the entire length of the State. The rock occurs usually associated with serpentine and hornblende. The beds are not continuous and have, as a rule, a great thickness in comparison with their length. It not infrequently happens that several isolated outcrops occur on the same line of strata, sometimes several miles apart, and in many cases alternating with beds of dolomitic lime stone that are scattered along with them.

    “At least sixty beds of this rock occur in the State in the towns of…Plymouth….”

  • Poultney, Vermont – the Gray Foundry, Inc., Manufacturer  (from Stone, Vol. XLVI, No. 8, August 1925, pp. 494)

    Stone Saws and Planers Manufactured by Gray Foundry, Inc., Poultney, Vermont
    Successors to Ruggles Machine Company, Established 1828

    When considering a Carborundum Machine for Finishing, Consider simplicity of design and a Ruggles.  Machines with a 1000 feed speeds.  We are offering the stone finishing trade a Carborundum Machine built after the Ruggles design which can meet individual cutting speed requirements at a low cost.  Equipped with variable speed countershaft control, giving feed ratios of 6 to 1 and return speed of 48” per minute.

    Work feed with table traveling on machined ways, insuring accuracy.  3½’ x 6½’ standard table size.  We have built stone working machinery for over 75 years.

  • Carborundum machine for finishing stone. Advertisement by Gray Foundry, Inc., Manufacturer, Poultney, Vermont, Successors to Ruggles Machine Company, Established 1828  (from Stone, August 1925, pp. 494) Carborundum machine for finishing stone. Advertisement by Gray Foundry, Inc., Manufacturer, Poultney, Vermont, Successors to Ruggles Machine Company, Established 1828 (from Stone, August 1925, pp. 494)

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