


“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….”
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.
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.
“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.”
“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.”
See: Northfield (near), Washington County, Vermont – the Northfield Black Slate Company (circa 1899) below.
Cannon Bros., Northfield, VT.
Manufacturers of all kinds of Barre Granite Monumental Work.
Correspondence solicited.
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.
“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.”
See: Northfield, Washington County, Vermont – the F. L. Howe & Co. (circa 1899) above.
See: Northfield (near), Washington County, Vermont – the Northfield Black Slate Company (circa 1899) below.
“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.”
“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, Vt., – a new marble quarry will be opened by Gates & Co. on the F. Howland farm, near the Venetian marble works."
“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.”
“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.)”
“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.”
“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.)”
“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.)”
“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.”
“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.”
“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….”
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