List of Quarries in Connecticut and Quarry Links, Photographs and Articles

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List of Quarries in Connecticut & Quarry Links,
Photographs and Articles

Oneco NW, Connecticut – the Marriott Granite Quarries (historical quarry) This quarry is listed on the HTL, Inc. Gazetteer.(The link from which the preceding information was obtained is no longer available.)
<http://gazetteer.hometownlocator.com/DisplayStateFeatures.cfm?FeatureType=mine&StateCode=CT>
Portland, Connecticut – Bird's Eye View of Stone Quarry (brownstone quarry)

(colorized postcard; the Hugh C. Leighton Co., Manufacturers, Portland, ME, U.S.A. L1025; unmailed)
Portland, Connecticut – Part of a Brownstone Quarry

(colorized postcard photograph; early 1900s; unmailed)
Portland, Connecticut – The Stone Quarry, Bird’s Eye View

(colorized postcard; the Hugh C. Leighton Co., Manufacturers, Portland ME, U.S.A. L1056; unmailed)
Portland, Connecticut – The Stone Quarry, Bird's Eye View - East Side

(color postcard photograph #L1026; The Hugh C. Leighton Co., Manufacturers, Portland, ME.; early 1900s; unmailed.)
Portland, Connecticut – The Quarries, Portland, Conn. (colorized postcard photograph, #B 10615; Chapin News Co., Hartford, Conn.; Dresden-Leipzig-Berlin; Made in Germany; early 1900s; unmailed)

The Quarries, Portland, Conn. (postcard photograph, #B10615)
Portland, Connecticut – “Brown Stone Quarry, Portland, Conn.” (colorized postcard photograph, #3; published by the August Schmelzer Co., Meriden, Conn; Made in Germany; early 1900s; unmailed)

“Brown Stone Quarry, Portland, Conn.” (colorized postcard photograph)
Portland, Connecticut – Portland, Conn. - The Stone Quarry showing derricks.

(colorized postcard photograph; circa 1910; unmailed)
Portland, Connecticut – Brownstone Quarry, Portland, Conn. (postcard photograph, early 1900s; unmailed)

Brownstone Quarry, Portland, Conn. (postcard photograph; early 1900s)
Portland, Connecticut – Quarry, Portland Conn.

Quarry, Portland, Connecticut (black and white postcard; postmarked November 9, 1909)

Portland, Connecticut – Stone Quarry (collotype print in Scenes in Middlesex County, Connecticut, published 1892 by the W. H. Parish Co., Chicago)

Stone Quarry, Portland, Connecticut, collotypte print from Middlesex County, Connecticut, by W. H. Parish Co., 1892.

Portland, Connecticut – Quarrymen at Work

(colorized postcard photograph A90938; Published by The August Schmeizer Co., Meriden, Conn. No. 4; made in Germany; postmark March 14, 1912)

Portland, Connecticut – Brownstone Quarries (colorized postcard photograph, 64861; Published by Lucius B. Hazen, Middletown, Conn. Printed in Germany; early/mid-1900s; unmailed)

Brownstone Quarries (postcard photograph, 64861; published by Lucius B. Hazen, Middletown, Conn., Printed in Germany)

Portland, Connecticut – Portland Brownstone Quarry – “Willow Island. Connecticut River and Portland Stone Quarry in distance.” (colorized postcard photograph, #L1054; The Hugh C. Leighton Co., Manufacturers, Portland, ME, U.S.A.; mid-1900s; unmailed)

“Willow Island. Connecticut River and Portland Stone Quarry in distance.” (colorized postcard photograph, #L1054; The Hugh C. Leighton Co., Manufacturers, Portland, ME, U.S.A.; mid-1900s; unmailed)

“Willow Island. Connecticut River and Portland Stone Quarry in distance.” (postcard photo)

Portland, Middlesex County, Connecticut – The Middlesex Quarry Co. (Stone Dealer) (The following information is from an advertisement in Stone: An Illustrated Magazine, Vol. XI, No. 6, November, 1895, Stone Publishing Co., New York, pp. XLiii.)

The Middlesex Quarry Co.

Connecticut Brownstone.

Portland, Middlesex County, Connecticut.

Henry A. Cornwall, Gen. Mgr.
Portland, Connecticut –Red Sandstone Quarries–from Arbuckle’s Ariosa Coffee Trade Cards, copyright 1915 – Connecticut, presented by Jeffrey Buck. The following is used with the permission of Jeffrey Buck." (The link from which the following information was obtained is no longer available.)
<http://home.att.net/~arbycards/arbsr06.htm>

“There are immense quarries of red sandstone at Portland and Cromwell, and marble and limestone is quarried at Canaan and Washington. A large amount of orthoclase comes from Glastonbury and Middletown.”
Portland, Connecticut – The Stone Quarry, Loading a Vessel at the Dock (on a small sailing boat)

(colorized postcard photograph; The Hugh C. Leighton Co., Manufacturers, Portland, ME, USA L1057; dated September 21 1911; no postmark)
Portland, Connecticut – Portland Brownstone (photographs and History), by Wayne G. Powell.
Portland, Connecticut – Portland Brownstone Quarries (present-day company until July 2012) (a division of Twin Oaks Enterprises, Inc.), 311 Brownstone Avenue, Portland, Connecticut.
- According to this web site, “Portland Brownstone Quarries completed its 18 years of quarrying the Portland brownstone deposit as of January, 2012 and ceased fabricating the stone in July, 2012….”
- (From the web site when originally accessed) “Producers of the original ‘Connecticut’ brownstone. Our stone, shipped via schooners from our quarry on the banks of the Connecticut to all major East coast ports from the 1700’s through the 1800’s, was used for its rich warm color, ease of working, and affordibility.
  
  “Freshly quarried stone is now available for your restoration or new construction projects….”
  - Products (This section of the Portland Brownstone Quarries web site is no longer available at the original link below, although you can see view it on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.)
    <http://www.brownstonequarry.com/products.htm>
  - Projects (This section of the Portland Brownstone Quarries web site is no longer available at the original link below, although you can see view it on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.)
    <http://www.brownstonequarry.com/projects.htm>
  - Operations (This section of the Portland Brownstone Quarries web site is no longer available at the original link below, although you can see view it on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.)
    <http://www.brownstonequarry.com/operations.htm
Portland Brownstone Quarries, National Historic Landmarks Program.
Portland Brownstone Quarries (photographs and history), presented on Wikipedia.
Portland, Connecticut – Portland Brownstone Quarries, presented by the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce. (The link from which the preceding information was obtained is no longer available.)
<http://www.middlesexchamber.com/portland.htm>

This site indicates that the brownstone quarries can still be visited today. It also has additional information about the Portland brownstone industry of the past.
Portland, Connecticut – Brownstone Quorum. "The Brownstone Quorum, Inc. is an outgrowth of an informal group of Portland residents who gathered at the Portland Library in late 1999 following the Town's acquisition of the brownstone quarries and river front property. The group's goal was to provide assistance and support to the town government as they determined the ultimate use of these properties."
- Brownstone Quarry Project- Project Sheet - Brownstone Quarries, North and South, Portland, Connecticut
Portland, Connecticut – Portland Brownstone Quarry - Portland, Connecticut, “All images and text copyright Peter M. LeTourneau, unless otherwise attached to publication authority.”
Portland, Connecticut – Portland Online (present-day online magazine) Following are only two of the selections available on this page. There are some very beautiful photographs of the old Portland quarries and surrounding area.
- Historic Portland – Picture Gallery
- Quarry Contemplations, Galleries (photos by John Monroe, National Park Service)
Portland, Connecticut – Portland's Prehistoric Past, A Day Trip Through History – Local History, by Kevin Tulimieri, Home Town News Publications, Volume 07, Issue 24, Friday, June 19, 1998. (The following quote is used with the permission of Home Town News Publications.)

"The brownstone quarries of Portland were an economic boon for the community. It has been estimated that over ten million cubic yards of brownstone were removed from three major quarries. What started as the "curious subject of bird tracks" in Portland brownstone has been expanded into a serious science. The information provided by the Portland quarries is still being studied, helping scientists better understand dinosaurs and the world we inherited from them."
“The Quarry that Built Boston and New York City: Portland’s brownstone was once the building material of choice,” by Doe Boyle, in Hog River Journal, Vol. 6, No. 3, Summer 2008, pp. 34-39.
- The following names appear in the above article: Brazos Brothers; the Brainerd Brothers; Brainerd Quarry; Brownstone Exploration and Discovery Park; Brownstone Quorum; Connecticut Steam Brown Stone (on-site mill); Free Stone Quarry (at Chatham) “known by the Name of Johnson’s Quarry; Gildersleeve Shipyard; Joel Hall; Christopher Henning, master carver; Hurlburt and Roberts; Thomas Johnson (competitor of William and James Stancliff); Rick Lane; Chris Markham; Middlesex Quarry Company; Patten and Russell; Portland Brownstone Quarries; Nathan Shaler; Shaler and Hall Quarry; James Stanclift, stonecutter; William and James Stancliff (sons of James Stanclift); Washington College (renamed Trinity College); Wesleyan University; and the Saint John the Baptist Cathedral in Charleston.
Portland, Connecticut – the Portland Brownstone Quarries (present-day company) The photographs accompanying this entry were contributed by John Spaulding, Association for Gravestone Studies; and they were taken on May 8, 2001. Two of the photographs are of the active brownstone quarry, which is known as "Portland Brownstone Quarries" located at 311 Brownstone Avenue, Portland, Connecticut. The other two photographs are of an abandoned brownstone quarry.

Abandoned Portland Brownstone Quarries

Active Portland Brownstone Quarries
Portland, Connecticut – Portland Brownstone Quarry, presented by Peter M. LeTourneau.
Portland and Middletown (near), Connecticut – Chatham Quarry or Town Quarry Chatham Quarry Records (1818-1842) Arranged and Described by Aldo E. Salerno, June, 1991. University of Connecticut Libraries, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, Archives and Special Collections, Storrs, Connecticut.
Portland, Connecticut – the “Portland’s Last Quarry is Closing: Marks The End of An Era,” by Erik Hesselberg, February 26, 2012, Special to The Courant, The Hartford Courant, Portland, Connecticut, presented on the articles.courant.com web site.

According to this article, Mike Meehan, who has operated the quarry for many years, was working on completing the last orders of stone from the quarry at the time this article was written in February 2012. The Portland quarry was “The only remaining working brownstone quarry in America…” (The quarry was located on Brownstone Avenue. It was set to close in April. In the article, the stone is described as reddish-brown.)

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