History of the Stone Cutters

Preserving Their Memories

THE BEGINNING OF THE PROJECT

My objectives and goal is to help preserve the memories, hard work and dedication of the stonecutters and pave cutters of yesteryear. And, also to protect the cultural resources and historic rehabilitation of the limestone and granite quarries. I first need to gather the people of the communities of Knox County jointly and mutually to form a grass roots group and, then enlist the help of other communities throughout Maine to join us in our plight toward safekeeping a piece of our State heritage alive. Then, we will labor together to undertake the work of preserving, protecting and promoting the historical and cultural resources of a time gone by affixing the cherished memories into a variety of learning environments for all to enjoy and learn from. We will also need funding, "scratch" as you like to call the green stuff. (Dr. Murphy)

By placing these endeavors onto a variety of mediums it will enhance and broaden our area of intended readers and future tourists before the future generations of students, history buffs, and visitors never have the change to learn of the quarry men of Maine. The first medium I want to use to contain and maintain this precious cargo of information is via the technology of the 21^st century, that being the Internet. To develop a web page is only the beginning. The web page is only one format in which to honor and preserve their memories there are many other mediums.

However, igniting the torch in which to preserve the memories of the 19^th and 20^th century paving cutters had begun many years before. If I may have the liberty of reminiscing for a moment, a piece of my heart and memories had always been in Tenants Harbor. Ever since I was a little girl sitting on the doorstep with my dad and listening to the stories in which he spoke of the quarries and of the hard work it was to quarry the limestone out of the quarries. He also spoke of good times while growing up as a young boy and then as a young man in St. George. I knew then that a bigger piece of my dad's heart had been left behind in St. George. Unfortunately, out of financial reasons he left the area that he so loved. He had to venture southward to Portland to work since that was where the jobs were in the 1950's. So from those earlier conversations, I have always had an intense interest in learning more about quarrying and the St. George's area. I remember visiting my Uncle John (who lived in Spruce Head for most of his life) and realizing how beautiful it was, even at my tender age of 12, I was torn to stay there and not to return to Portland. But after my

uncle died in 1970 we hardly ever went back to visit after that, I think it bothered my dad too much, because each time he had to leave a piece of him stayed behind.

I knew that I needed the resources of the written, verbal and photographic kind in order to carry the torch my father had given to me year's prior. However, I didn't know how far this search was going to take me and how big the torch was going to get.

Over the past few months I have been on line, looking through the libraries, local and Maine State Archives and bookstores, there was hardly, if nothing at all at any of those places regarding the art and history of limestone and granite quarrying. Only through the process of serendipity did I encounter any information. However, at this writing I have only found one book and one local film made, and that was by luck that I found those. Let me explain if I may. During the winter break I was in St. George's town hall in February, speaking to the assistant town manager regarding the whereabouts of the quarries, and my grandparents grave and other general

genealogical information about my family, when the town manager, Mr. Falla came out of his office and told me of a book about St. George, Maine. He stated that it might have some of the information that I was looking for. He also told me where some of the quarries were located. So, I went forth anxiously in search of my father and grandparent's home and lively hood. With the book and map of the area in hand I began to search for the quarries that my dad had so often spoke of. Unfortunately, I found the quarries to be deserted, hidden or just not readily available to the average citizen. I was able to venture out to Clark's Cove where there is nothing to commemorate that there ever was hundreds of workers who worked there at one time. Even no name of the quarry! I stood there on a large piece of granite bewildered and then questioning to myself, "where can I find this information?" After reading Mr. Smally's book, I realized it does have some history of the quarries and it was quit enlightening, but not enough, only more questions arose. But, what if I hadn't gone into the town office and hadn't been stooping around for information? I probably would of never found anything and my search would of ended along with my quest. On another occasion, about two weeks later I was revisiting the area to search for more information. (This stuff is addicting.) Anyway, this time I went to the library, where the people were very helpful.

I arrived at a great time since a few members of the St. George Historical Society were present working on cataloging books for their museum. The Librarian introduced me to four of its members. They were very informative spurring me on to other sources. I met Mrs. Jean McFarland who introduced me to the wife of the Marshall Point Light house curator, Mr. Dana Smith. I learned there is a rather detailed and complete collection of articles and photos of the last two centuries of information on the quarry men at its museum. I will be meeting Mr. Smith on April 2nd when my son and I travel back up to have a personal tour of the museum. (It is usually closed till June) yes I have enlisted the help of my son; he has been very generous with his motivational comments so I asked him if he would exert some of that energy toward helping me research and photograph. He has generously offered. We plan on recording and taking photos while there. I am also meeting with Mr. Skoglund, the president of the St. George Historical Society. We will meet the day before. He has offered to give of his time in which to give me a spoken history of the community and quarrying. Mr. Skoglund will also be introducing me to other townspeople who remember the days of quarry, even one lady who knew my dad. (My dad would be 101 years old if he were alive today.)

This whole project has been like this. While psyching out the communities I have come to know some very nice people, in Maine and even outside of Maine, as I ask for grant money. I have already started to search for grant money to help in this project. I have contacted the Center for Maine Humanities and Historical Preservation Association and others.

It's been a wonderful journey so far. But, not everyone wants to take that journey. The only journey they want to take is one that I tried to take myself and that is to the World Wide Web or to the bookstore. They will find that there is very little accessible information; however, I believe that what information that is out there should be more accessible by gathering it together and putting it out on-line. Uploading it onto a web site is just the beginning. Preserving the historical sites of some of these quarries is the next step and my next goal. I need to increase the awareness of the community that a monument should be built to preserve the memory of the stone and paving cutters that worked so hard. And d finally, but surly not least, to find an author or authors from the community that would write a book.

This vanishing history I speak of is of the chronicles of the hard workingmen who helped build this nation. They were the pave cutters and stonecutters of Maine who supplied the needed materials, such as limestone and granite. These materials were the majority of the substances used to build most of the Eastern seaboard cities, including our Nation's capital for over two hundred years, from the mid 1700's to the early 1900's. The quarry men came from far and wide, like my grandparents who came from Scotland, but there were immigrants from Sweden, Finland, Ireland, England, and Italy and more than likely other places as well. They worked in the quarries up and down the coast of Maine, including other areas of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. A lot of the limestone came from Knox County. In fact, the city of Rockland was once known as the ‘Lime City.’ Its quarries employed hundreds. I could go on and on of what I have learned so far by just talking to people. However, I will save that for the web page and maybe a book.

Much of the history has been lost to time, instead stored in the memories of the ‘old-timers,’ as some would call the townspeople who remember the days of quarrying. The old quarries are in disarray and all but forgotten. To bring this historical rehabilitation of a diverse cultural group, which lived and worked over a century ago, to life will take a lot of work, dedication and love of community and history. A history that is fading away as I write, however, the dedication and love is still quite alive and can be found seeping throughout the communities of Knox County. I have noticed that as I travel around the county, talking to residents and leaders of the towns and cities of Knox County. It flows out from the voices of the towns' historians and long time residents of the communities. It oozes from the towns' historical logs, archives, and books that are worn and antiquated.

I am in the process of writing a letter to be sent out to many who would be or could be involved in this project either from resources, such as the towns people who remember the days of quarrying with their verbal history, or all the way to the state and national level. In fact this paper could be so much longer if I told you of all the people I have spoken with who have offered connections or help, even a call from the Governor's office. I feel that I can comfortably say that, "this is good stuff," and that it's deep within my heart. This goes way beyond the search for my family's roots since it has incited a passion within me to preserve all of the stories and names of the quarry men. I hope you find this paper to be adequate and full of good community project building material. I would of never been able to do this project without having taken your course and listening to your informative instructions on how to get started and keep the momentum going.

In conclusion of this paper but not of the project, I would like to insight a yearning for all in the community to take up the torch and light the way for future students of all ages. Since this project is first and foremost being developed to promote an educational limitless realm for all to learn in; and finally, to increase the awareness and appreciation of our historical diversity. Without the heart of the community my project is just that, only a project, but with courage and passion from the towns of Maine it could be a great project!

It's been a wonderful journey so far. But, not everyone wants to take that journey. The only journey they want to take is one that I tried to take myself and that is to the World Wide Web or to the bookstore. They will find that there is very little accessible information; however, I believe that what information that is out there should be more accessible by gathering it together and putting it out on-line. Uploading it onto a web site is just the beginning. Preserving the historical sites of some of these quarries is the next step and my next goal. I need to increase the awareness of the community that a monument should be built to preserve the memory of the stone and paving cutters that worked so hard. And finally, but surely not least, to find an author or authors from the community that would write a book.