Rock of Ages

We visited Vermont's "Rock of Ages" on the 9th of July. They offer a great little visitor center as well as a nice gift shop at the site (oh yeah, a decent hot dog stand as an added bonus). You can purchase tickets at the gift shop for the bus tour to the top of the quarry which overlooks the quarry site itself. It's a bumpy ride up the access road and along the way you get to see the "leftovers" from many years of quarrying. Our tour guide, PJ, was very informative and knew all the answers to the many questions that were asked of him.

Usually you can observe the workers on the job site, but the week we were there, the quarry was shut down for their annual summer vacation. The first photo shows the gigantic cranes that are used to lower the workers 600 feet or more to the floor of the quarry. That little yellow basket that you see in the photo holds several men at a time. The crane system can lift weights of half a million pounds and you can see several huge chunks of granite that have been cut and hauled up to the top of the quarry. The zig-zag ladder system that you see on the side of the quarry is an emergency escape system. We all agreed that we'd prefer to have a sandwich and a blanket tossed to us from the heights before we would even make a half-hearted attempt to climb out on our own. I believe it was 660 feet to the bottom of the quarry, and each ladder was at least two stories in height. The last photo shows two lagoons that are a result of the quarry process. Barre produces white granite, a lovely material - and we dragged home several pieces from the "grout bin" to add a decorative touch to our herb garden. At the end of the tour, you are invited to go to the manufacturing plant and see the granite turned into finished pieces.

Rock of Ages guarantees all of its work forever - from statues to engravings to commissioned works of art, it's all guaranteed under the Rock of Ages logo. The observation deck in the manufacturing plant is high above the floor, and you can see the artists at their workbenches, the sandblasting areas, and the cutting, polishing, and shipping process for these large granite items. The plant also works on other colors of granite that are shipped in from other quarries owned by the same company. It is an interesting place and a lot more involved with artistic talents than we ever thought. Outside on the grounds, you can bowl on the granite bowling alley - an attempt in the 1960's to market another use for granite - it never took off. All in all, this was a really interesting side trip, and one I would certainly recommend for all ages.

Hampton Inn - Littleton, New Hampshire
603-444-0025
http://www.littletonhotel.com/
Comfort Inn & Suites - St. Johnsbury, Vermont
802-748-1500
http://www.vermontvacationland.com/
Fairbanks Inn - St. Johnsbury, Vermont
802-748-5666
http://www.stjay.com/