Norcross Brothers Granite Quarry

Last updated
Norcross Brothers Granite Quarry
NORCROSS BROTHERS GRANITE QUARRY, NEW HAVEN COUNTY, CT.jpg
USA Connecticut location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationQuarry Rd., Branford, Connecticut
Coordinates 41°17′1″N72°44′32″W / 41.28361°N 72.74222°W / 41.28361; -72.74222 Coordinates: 41°17′1″N72°44′32″W / 41.28361°N 72.74222°W / 41.28361; -72.74222
Area69 acres (28 ha)
Built1887 (1887)
NRHP reference No. 03000315 [1]
Added to NRHPJune 6, 2003

The Norcross Brothers Granite Quarry, more recently the Castellucci Quarry, is a historic granite quarry on Quarry Road in Branford, Connecticut. Opened in 1887 by the Norcross Brothers construction firm, it supplied granite to a number of high-profile construction projects, including the Statue of Liberty and the Marshall Field and Company Building, and was in operation until 1980. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003, [1] and is now owned by the town as a passive recreation area.

Contents

Description and history

The former Norcross Brothers Granite Quarry is located in a rural setting of eastern Branford, at the northern end of Quarry Road. The quarry is part of a larger parcel, where there is still ongoing quarrying. The historic quarry is a semicircular cut into a hillside on the west side of the property, between the north end of the public road and the active quarry. It has a stepped face, which extends about 50 feet (15 m) above the ground to the east, and is about 300 feet (91 m) wide. The lower reach of the quarry is filled with water, obscuring the depth from which stone was taken. Built features of the quarry include a wooden derrick near the upper lip, which was originally used as part of a hoisting mechanism. Foundational remnants of a stone-cutting shop are located nearer the road end, and the property is scattered with stone fragments and old tools. [2]

The quarry was opened in 1887 by the Norcross Brothers, a construction firm based in Worcester, Massachusetts. Norcross was founded in 1864, and was by the end of the 19th century one of the nation's highest-profile construction firms. The company owned a number of stone quarries, from which materials were taken for building projects nationwide. Stone from this quarry is known to have been used in the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC, in the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library in New Orleans, and in the base of the Statue of Liberty. The quarry had a pronounced effect on the local economy and the town's demographics, bringing in a large number of immigrants into the formerly "Yankee" community. The quarry was sold by the Norcross Brothers in 1926, and operated intermittently until 1980. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

Branford, Connecticut Town in Connecticut, United States

Branford is a shoreline town located on Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut, 8 miles (13 km) east of New Haven. The population was 28,026 at the 2010 census.

Guilford, Maryland Unincorporated community in Maryland, United States

Guilford is an unincorporated community located in Howard County in the state of Maryland. The location is named after the Guilford Mill. Guilford is near Kings Contrivance, one of the nine "villages" of Columbia.

Lincoln Tomb United States historic place in Springfield, Illinois

The Lincoln Tomb is the final resting place of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, and three of their four sons, Edward, William, and Thomas. It is located in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. Constructed of granite, the tomb has a single-story rectangular base, surmounted by an obelisk, with a semicircular receiving room entrance-way, on one end, and semicircular crypt or burial-room opposite.

Stonington Harbor Light lighthouse in Stonington, Connecticut, United States

The Stonington Harbor Light is a historic lighthouse built in 1840 and located on the east side of Stonington Harbor in the Borough of Stonington, Connecticut. It is a well-preserved example of a mid-19th century stone lighthouse. The light was taken out of service in 1889 and now serves as a local history museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Norcross Brothers Contractors and Builders was a prominent nineteenth-century American construction company, especially noted for their work, mostly in stone, for the architectural firms of H.H. Richardson and McKim, Mead & White.

Bear Island is one of the Thimble Islands off Stony Creek, a section of Branford, Connecticut, USA. It is the site to a former granite quarry, which exported high-quality pink granite to such constructions as the Lincoln Memorial, Grant's Tomb and the base of the Statue of Liberty. The famous Stony Creek granite is still quarried in Stony Creek.

Princeton Battle Monument

The Princeton Battle Monument is located in Princeton, New Jersey, adjacent to Morven and Princeton's borough hall. The Monument commemorates the January 3, 1777 Battle of Princeton, and depicts General George Washington leading his troops to victory and the death of General Hugh Mercer. It stands 50 feet (15 m) tall and was inspired by carvings on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Designed to visually anchor the western end of Nassau Street, the monument and its park are a legacy of the City Beautiful movement.

Clark and McCormack Quarry and House United States historic place

The Clark and McCormack Quarry and House consists of a historic quarry and the adjacent residential estate of one of the owners in Rockville, Minnesota, United States. The Clark and McCormack Quarry was established in 1907, and was the source of Rockville Pink granite. The John Clark House was built in 1924 with granite from the quarry. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 for its local significance in the theme of industry. It was nominated for being one of Minnesota's major producers of structural granite and the best representative of eastern Stearns County's important granite quarrying industry.

Beacon Hill (Branford, Connecticut) mountain

Beacon Hill, (est.) 130 feet (40 m) above sea level, is a traprock outcrop located 1.2 miles (1.9 km) southeast of New Haven, Connecticut overlooking the mouth of the Farm River 1.2 miles north of Long Island Sound. It is the southern-most notable summit of the Metacomet Ridge which extends from Long Island Sound near New Haven, Connecticut, north through the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts to nearly the Vermont border. Beacon Hill is known for its scenic ledges overlooking a surrounding salt marsh and the greater Sound and for its unique microclimate ecosystems and rare plant communities. Beacon Hill is traversed by several trails, most notably the 28-mile (45 km) Branford Trail. The Shoreline Trolley Museum runs trolley service to the base of the hill.

Branford Steam Railroad

Branford Steam Railroad is an industrial railroad serving the Tilcon Connecticut stone quarry in North Branford, Connecticut in the United States. It exchanges freight with the Providence and Worcester Railroad and with the Buchanan Marine Company.

Stony Creek–Thimble Islands Historic District United States historic place

The Stony Creek–Thimble Islands Historic District is a historic district in Branford, Connecticut that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1988.

Eric Sloane Museum History museum in Connecticut, United States

The Eric Sloane Museum in Kent, Connecticut, is a museum featuring the studio and antique hand tool collections of Eric Sloane. It is owned and operated by the State Historic Preservation Office of Connecticut. The property includes the Kent Iron Furnace, a granite blast furnace which produced pig iron for almost 70 years, beginning in 1826. The furnace is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Fairlawn (Worcester, Massachusetts) United States historic place

Fairlawn is a historic mansion at 189 May Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is now part of the main building of the Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital. The mansion were the property of James Norcross, a nationally prominent builder whose Norcross Brothers firm was engaged in construction projects involving famous architects, including H. H. Richardson and McKim, Mead & White. The Norcross brothers were also locally prominent, building a number of Worcester landmarks and operating a factory in the city which produced architectural parts.

Graniteville Historic District (Waterford, Connecticut) United States historic place

The Graniteville Historic District is a mainly residential historic district in Waterford, Connecticut. It is ranged along Rope Ferry Road, near granite quarries that were once a major industry in the town. Most of the 31 historical buildings in the district are plain residences occupied by quarry workers; also included are the c. 1878 Graniteville School at 239 Rope Ferry Road, and the house of John Palmer, one of the proprietors of the quarries, at 218 Rope Ferry Road. His house, a c. 1860 Italianate updating of an older house, is the most elaborate house in the district. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

County Farm Bridge (Wilton, New Hampshire) United States historic place

The County Farm Bridge is a historic stone arch bridge in Wilton, New Hampshire. Built in 1885, it carries Old County Farm over Whiting Brook, just south of its northern junction with Burton Highway in a rural section of northwestern Wilton. It is an unusually late and well-preserved example of a 19th-century stone arch bridge, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

Hearthstone Castle United States historic place

Hearthstone Castle in Danbury, Connecticut was built between 1895 and 1899. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. It has also been known as Parks' Castle and as The Castle. The property includes four contributing buildings and three other contributing structures. Today, the castle is owned by the City of Danbury and is located in Tarrywile Park. Hearthstone Castle is slated to be demolished due to safety concerns.

Captain Nathan Hale Monument United States historic place

The Captain Nathan Hale Monument, is a 45-foot (14 m) obelisk in Coventry, Connecticut, built in 1846 in honor of Nathan Hale, the Revolutionary War hero, who was born in Coventry. It was one of the first war memorials to be built in the United States, and is a significant work of both architect Henry Austin and builder Solomon Willard. Now owned and maintained by the state, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

Thimble Islands

The Thimble Islands is an archipelago consisting of small islands in Long Island Sound, located in and around the harbor of Stony Creek in the southeast corner of Branford, Connecticut.

Eliphalet Howd House United States historic place

The Eliphalet Howd House is a historic house at 675 East Main Street in Branford, Connecticut. Probably built about 1730, it is one of the town's few surviving 18th-century houses, and a good example of a two-story Georgian colonial house. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. 1 2 "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Norcross Brothers Granite Quarry". National Park Service . Retrieved October 2, 2018. With accompanying pictures