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

• Randolph, Orange County, Vermont - the Beedle’s Granite Prospect (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 Beedle’s Prospect was “in the west corner of the town of Randolph between the Bethel line and the west branch of White River, in school district 11, three-fourths of a mile west and southwest of the Vermont Central Railroad, which here describes a curve. It is on the farm of A. H. Beedle, of Randolph…According to the State geologic map of 1861 this granite should be on the west side of the western belt of ‘clay slate,’ but no granite is shown on the map in this town.” The granite is reportedly a fine white granite. The main opening was 60 by 30 feet. In 1916 there was no quarrying.

  Accessory minerals: Zircon, apatite, and rutile. Secondary minerals: Kaolin, a white mica, rather abundant epidote, and zoisite in irregular particles up to 0.5 millimeter, exceptionally 0.75 millimeter, accounting for the greenish tinge…; a little calcite and rare chlorite scales up to 0.22, exceptionally 0.75 millimeter, reinforcing the greenish tinge.

• Readsboro, 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 Readsboro….”

• Richford, 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…Richford….”

• Rochester, Vermont - the Liberty Hill 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 Liberty Hill Quarry was located “3 miles south of Rochester village (the west terminal of the White River Valley Railroad), on the Rochester-Pittsfield town line. The outcrop extends into the town of Pittsfield, in Rutland County, (Vermont).” The granite was reported as a greenish-white color with conspicuous brilliant muscovite spots with a coarse texture.

  This granite is a building granite. In 1909 the granite from the Liberty Hill Quarry was used for the base course for the gymnasium at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

• Rochester, 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 Readsboro, Marlborough, Newfane, Windham, Townsend, Athens, Grafton, Andover, Chester, Cavendish, Baltimore, Ludlow, Plymouth, Bridgewater, Thetford, Bethel, Rochester, Warren, Braintree, Waitsfield, Moretown, Duxbury, Waterbury, Bolton, Stow, Cambridge, Waterville, Berkshire, Eden, Lowell, Belvidere, Johnson, Enosburgh, Westfield, Richford, Troy, and Jay.

  “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. Another important bed is that in the town of Weathersfield. This, like that of Grafton, is situated in gneiss, but has no overlying rock, and the soap-stone occurs in inexhaustible quantities. It was first worked about 1847, and during 1859 about 800 tons of material were removed and sold. The Rochester beds were also of great importance, the stone being peculiarly fine-grained and compact. It was formerly much used in the manufacture of refrigerators. The quality of the stone is represented to be unusually good and free from impurities.*….”

  (* Page 360, footnote 1: Geology of Vermont, Vol. II, p. 783-91.)

• Rochester (2 miles north),Vermont - the Vermont Verde Antique International Quarry (green serpentine marble) "Pulling Vermont Green - New Ways and Beautiful Marble Keep Rochester's Old Quarry Busy," Vermont Life Online, Spring 2001. (The link from which this information was obtained is no longer available. You can contact Vermont Life Online to obtain the back issue of the magazine.)
  <http://www.vtlife.com/vtlife/current_issue/sp01_marble.html>
• Rochester, Vermont – Verde Antique Marble Quarry - The Vermont Marble Company. Marble quarried at Rochester is verde antique. (From Industrial Minerals and Rocks, senior editor, Donald D. Carr ; associate editors, A. Frank Alsobrook, [et al.] 6th ed., Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Littleton, Colorado, 1994, pg. 25.)
• Rock of Ages Granite Quarry - A Natural Wonder of the World. (Postcard booklet of many photographs, H 44 - 12.500 - Aug. ’50. Teknitone Process by E. B. Thomas, Rt. 22, Cambridge 39, Mass.)

  “As you stand on one of the observation platforms at the edge of the quarry, you'll see a fascinating 40-acre panorama of solid granite. Directly below you, 350 feet down, your eye will pick out steel-helmeted quarriers, dwarfed by their surroundings, drilling into the solid granite floor. In the center of the quarry is the light emerald-green pool of water which is always present in deep quarries. This one is forty feet deep. Around the edges of the quarry are the twelve huge derricks, whose masts are 3 feet in diameter and 110 feet tall. These derricks hoist the huge blocks of granite, some weighing 50 tons, from which come the world-famous Rock of Ages Family Monuments. It is indeed a sight to remember to see one of these huge blocks being slowly lifted from its age-old bed at the bottom of the quarry to the waiting flat cars far above. As you leave Rock of Ages over the paved three miles of road curving down the mountainside, you'll get one of the typically lovely views for which Vermont is so famous.”

• Roxbury Station (south of), Vermont - the Barney Marble Co. Serpentine 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 serpentine quarry, opened before 1858, is about half a mile south of Roxbury station, and about 600 feet west of the railroad, in Washington County. It measures at the surface 100 feet north to south by 35 feet across, but at the bottom, 70 to 75 feet down, 120 feet north to south by 48 to 50 feet across. A new opening, 500 feet south of the old one, was begun in 1910. Operator, Barney Marble Co., Swanton, Vt.

  “The serpentine, “Vermont verde antique” (specimens D, XXXI, 2, c, rough; f, polished), and its geologic relations have been described on page 49.

  “The serpentine is finished at Swanton and is used for columns, wainscoting, counter tops, base, and tiling. A photograph of a small polished piece is reproduced in Plate VIII, A, a.

  “Specimens: Wainscoting, post office, Danville, Ill.; the Delaware Columns and panels (10 feet 6 inches by 4 feet 2 inches), Hall of Justice, San Francisco. Counter and base, Union Station, Washington, D. C. Base, First National Bank, Chicago. Tiling, city hall, Indianapolis, Ind. The length of columns is limited to 15 feet.”

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