T
he early history of Vermont’s gran-
ite industry was shaped by hard-
working, talented, and enterprising
people, who recognized high-quality gran-
ite; learned effective methods of quarrying
and shaping granite; and developed local
and regional markets. Farmers conducted
most of this early work, as they came across
granite outcrops often while clearing their
land for agricultural use. In their spare
time, these men took advantage of the lo-
cal granite resources to supplement their
income and to serve a community need.
In many cases their products directly com-
peted with the softer, easily quarried and
shaped marble and limestone of Vermont’s
Champlain Valley.
It is unclear who first quarried granite in
Vermont during the late Colonial era.
Whether found as a boulder carried by
the glaciers or cut from exposed granite
bedrock using simple and ancient hillside
quarrying techniques, many of Vermont’s
gristmills, constructed after Benning-
ton’s in 1762, took advantage of the gran-
ite found on the eastern side of the Green
Mountains for their millstones. At the
same time, builders of the earliest homes
and businesses for Vermont’s wealthy be-
gan using the locally available granite for
foundations, steps, and other architectural
elements.
In the early 1800’s, the Parker, Abbott, and
Wheaton families of Barre were the
earliest granite quarriers and manufactur-
ers in Vermont, making granite their liveli-
hood. Robert Parker and Thomas Courser
started the first extensive commercial
granite quarry on Cobble Hill in Barre in
the 1810s.
The foot of a stiff-
leg derrick used
to hoist granite
blocks from the
quarry.
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