Brintons Quarry Barrens

Description

The quarries here were opened in the early eighteenth century, and during the late nineteenth century, they supplied most of the serpentine stone used in the eastern United States for architectural purposes. After quarrying was largely abandoned in 1900, the flooded quarries were used for swimming and an organized swimming association ultimately bought the property.

Mining

Quarrying of the serpentine here for building stone by local landowners began around 1720. By 1869, the stone from the quarry was being shipped further away. During the 1870s, the quarries here came under the control of Joseph H. Brinton, who shipped stone, largely for buildings, throughout the eastern United States. Changes in architectural fashion led to a decline in orders in the late 1890s, and Brinton's company ceased quarrying in 1900. In 1923, he installed a crusher to dispose of the waste piles as aggregate. Several of the quarries flooded; the openings were worked sporadically through 1941 for stone and then for magnesium silicate. Vermiculite was also produced on the site.

Visiting

The quarries and grasslands are the property of the Quarry Swimming Association and should not be visited without their permission.