Vermont Granite Museum

Last updated
Vermont Granite Museum
Vermont Granite Museum in Barre.jpg
Vermont Granite Museum
Location7 Jones Bros Way
Barre, Vermont
TypeGranite industry museum
Website www.vtgranitemuseum.org
Jones Brothers Granite Shed
Vermont Granite Museum building Barre Vermont.jpg
USA Vermont location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location7 Jones Bros Way, Barre, Vermont
Coordinates 44°12′42″N72°31′15″W / 44.21167°N 72.52083°W / 44.21167; -72.52083
Area14 acres (5.7 ha)
Built1895 (1895)
Architectural styleStraight Granite Shed
NRHP reference No. 02000413 [1]
Added to NRHPApril 26, 2002

The Vermont Granite Museum is a museum in the city of Barre, Vermont, devoted to the city's historically important granite quarrying and processing industry. It is located at 7 Jones Brothers Way, in the former Jones Brothers Granite Shed, a former granite processing facility listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Stone Arts School, administered by the museum, is a teaching institution for aspiring sculptors.

Contents

Mission

The museum's mission is to preserve and interpret the history of Vermont's granite industry, an economically important element of Barre's economy since the late 19th century. It is open for tours between June and October, or by special arrangement at other times. Admission is charged. Under the moniker of the Stone Arts School, the museum offers workshops in which sculptors can learn historic and modern granite-working techniques.[ citation needed ]

Setting and building history

Interior Vermont Granite Museum interior, Barre Vermont.jpg
Interior

The museum is located northwest of downtown Barre, in the former Jones Brothers Granite Shed, set between North Main Street (United States Route 302) and the Stevens Branch of the Winooski River. The shed, built in 1895, is an early example of a straight shed, which replaced the previously common horseshoe design. In this facility large blocks of granite were processed into finished products, primarily cemetery markers. Jones Brothers was founded in 1870, and was the oldest operating granite works in Vermont when it ceased operations in 1975. The shed is the principal surviving building of a once-larger complex of buildings on the site. The shed was acquired for museum use in 1997. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barre (city), Vermont</span> City in Vermont, United States

Barre is the most populous city in Washington County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the municipal population was 8,491. Popularly referred to as "Barre City", it is almost completely surrounded by "Barre Town", which is a separate municipality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Archives Building</span> United States historic place

The National Archives Building, known informally as Archives I, is the headquarters of the United States National Archives and Records Administration. It is located north of the National Mall at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. in Washington, D.C. The rotunda entrance is on Constitution Avenue, and the research entrance is on Pennsylvania Avenue. A second larger facility, Archives II, also known as A2, is located in College Park, Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aldrich Public Library</span> United States historic place

The Aldrich Public Library is the public library serving the city of Barre, Vermont. It is located at 6 Washington Street in the city center, in an architecturally distinguished Classical Revival building constructed in 1907–08 with funds bequested by Leonard Frost Aldrich, a local businessman, and was substantially enlarged in 2000. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodbridge, Detroit</span> United States historic place

Woodbridge is a historic neighborhood of primarily Victorian homes located in Detroit, Michigan. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, with later boundary increases in 1997 and 2008. In addition to its historic value, Woodbridge is also notable for being an intact neighborhood of turn-of-the-century homes within walking or biking distance of Detroit's Downtown, Midtown, New Center, and Corktown neighborhoods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vincent Illuzzi</span> American politician

Vincent Illuzzi, Jr. is an American lawyer and politician from Derby, Vermont who formerly served as a Republican member of the Vermont State Senate representing the Essex-Orleans senate district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socialist Labor Party Hall</span> United States historic place

The Socialist Labor Party Hall at 46 Granite Street, Barre, Vermont was constructed in 1900. It was a location for debates among anarchists, socialists, and union leaders over the future direction of the labor movement in the United States in the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Augustine Church, Montpelier</span> Historic church in Vermont, United States

Saint Augustine Church is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Augustine and located on Barre Street in Montpelier, Vermont.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyon's Turning Mill</span> United States historic place

Lyon's Turning Mill is a historic turning mill that created granite columns on Ricciuti Drive in Quincy, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enfield Shaker Museum</span> United States historic place

The Enfield Shaker Museum is an outdoor history museum and historic district in Enfield, New Hampshire, in the United States. It is dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of the Shakers, a Protestant religious denomination, who lived on the site from 1793 to 1923. The museum features exhibitions, artifacts, eight Shaker buildings and restored Shaker gardens. It is located in a valley between Mount Assurance and Mascoma Lake in Enfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayonne Community Museum</span> United States historic place

The Bayonne Community Museum is located in the Bergen Point section of Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barre Downtown Historic District</span> Historic district in Vermont, United States

The Barre Downtown Historic District encompasses the historic commercial and civic heart of the city of Barre, Vermont. Extending along Main Street from City Park to Depot Square, this area was developed quite rapidly in the 1880s and 1890s, when the area experienced rapid growth due to the expansion of the nearby granite quarries. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barre City Hall and Opera House</span> United States historic place

Barre City Hall and Opera House is a historic government building at 6 North Main Street in downtown Barre, Vermont. Built in 1899, it houses the city offices, and its upper floors have served for much of the time since its construction as a performing arts venue. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beck and Beck Granite Shed</span> United States historic place

The Beck and Beck Granite Shed is a historic granite shed at 34 Granite Street in the city of Barre, Vermont. Built in 1933, it is a rare surviving example of a rectangular granite shed, a late style of granite processing facility. The Beck and Beck Company was started by the area's first German immigrants, and operated until 1960. The building now houses a non-profit and store that repurposes and recycles building materials. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Currier Park Historic District</span> Historic district in Vermont, United States

The Currier Park Historic District encompasses a historic late 19th-century affluent residential area of the city of Barre, Vermont. Centered around Currier Park, a rectangular park laid out in 1883 just east of the city's downtown, are a collection of a high quality predominantly Italianate and Queen Anne Victorian residences. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Clothespin Factory</span> United States historic place

The National Clothespin Factory is a historic industrial building at One Granite Street in Montpelier, Vermont. Built in 1918, it is a significant local example of an early 20th-century wood-frame factory, and was home to the nation's last manufacturer of wooden clothespins. Now adapted for other uses, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scampini Block</span> United States historic place

The Scampini Block is a historic commercial building at 289 North Main Street in the city of Barre, Vermont. Built in 1904, it is an elegant showcase of the skills of local granite carvers, and was for many years a social center for the area's large immigrant stoneworkers. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E. L. Smith Roundhouse Granite Shed</span> United States historic place

The E.L. Smith Roundhouse Granite Shed is a historic granite shed at 23 Burnham Street in the city of Barre, Vermont. Built in 1889, it is the only known surviving example of a circular granite cutting shed in the United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshua Twing Gristmill</span> United States historic place

The Joshua Twing Gristmill is a historic industrial facility at 450 North Main Street in the city of Barre, Vermont. Built in 1844, it is a remarkably high-style example of Greek Revival architecture for an essentially utilitarian industrial structure. Joshua Twing, its builder, was engaged for many years in a variety of industrial pursuits, primarily considered with engineering improvements in water wheels and turbines. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Co-operative Store Bakery</span> United States historic place

The Union Co-operative Store Bakery is a historic commercial building at 46 1/2 Granite Street in the city of Barre, Vermont, USA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodbury Granite Company</span> Quarry in New England

The Woodbury Granite Company (WGC) was a producer of rough and finished granite products. Incorporated in 1887, purchased and significantly reorganized in 1896, and expanded by merger in 1902 and thereafter, the company operated quarries principally in Woodbury, Vermont, but its headquarters and stone-finishing facilities were located in nearby Hardwick. Beginning as a quarrier and seller of rough stone, the company expanded into the business of finishing cut stone and grew from there. It made its name as a supplier of architectural (structural) granite, and grew to become the United States' largest producer, supplying the stone for many notable buildings, including several state capitols, numerous post offices, and many office buildings.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Liz Pritchett (2002). "NRHP nomination for Jones Brothers Granite Shed". National Park Service . Retrieved 2016-10-18. with photos from 2002