I used "Re-Discovery" in the title because when I was a child, my grandparents would take my sister and I to this place on a Sunday afternoon as a special treat. We would load up in the car and take the 5 minute drive over to the "Rock" as everyone called it.
It was a very special thing for us to do. As kids, there were no electronics to play with. Just our imaginations and maybe a simple toy. My favorite was a wooden gun that my grandfather made me, imagine that. At that time. we were able to drive through the quarry freely, get out and climb all over the giant slabs of granite. This was like no other place on earth to a child!
Times have changed and you can no longer drive freely through the quarry. They also quit doing the free tours as well for some reason. On this day, I wanted to revisit the granite quarry for two reasons. I wanted to get out and get some exercise because I know there's a good place to walk there. And I also wanted to learn about the history of this place. I knew that this place was a pretty big deal in it's on right but I couldn't give any details and that's pretty sad since I live so close to it. So come with me while we explore the North Carolina Granite Corporation / Quarry.
When you first enter on to the property, the first thing that you think of is "Man, that's a lot of granite!" The first two things you see is the business sign and the granite church that was built by hand, yes I said built by hand. All the buildings and beautiful artwork was done completely by hand and horses were used to help hoist the stones to where they needed to be,
This is a beautiful church.
Standing outside the church, you can look one way and see the overlook of the quarry through this nicely kept area.
And if you look the other way, you get a nice view of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Of course once I saw these, I automatically thought about
I saw this behind the church and thought it was interesting.
In the courtyard there is a slab of granite with mixed patterns. Just looking at it briefly, you probably wouldn't notice anything special about one of the patterns.
Here's the walkway leading up to the display.
See anything special about the design?
These designs are all shapes of the state of North Carolina and all of these designs were chiseled by hand!
Lets look at the main building, shall we?
This building really just floors me with how beautiful it really is and just to imagine how much labor was involve to build it.
Nope, not many power tools back then.
Detail around the windows.
Once I went inside, you could almost smell the history and of course guess what the floor was made out of?
Side view of the office building.
Old Glory was getting wrapped up today, it was really windy!
Parking area in front of the office building.
Coming out of the office, you can see the overview of the quarry. From here, we will drive up to the observatory deck, park the truck, take a few snaps and walk the trail that is .3 tenths of a mile long.
This is actually a nice place to walk.
They have had several tourists in the past to scale the fence to try and get better photos, so they had to install barbed wire at the top eventually.
I was wondering how was I going to get a good picture through the fence though.... Hmmmm, problem solved! Get in the back of the truck so I can reach over the fence! Ahh, the lengths I will go for a good snap lol.
Now back in the day, they used to use dynamite a lot but today the use saws to harvest the granite.
Almost forgot about this little guy! This building is currently a well-house but use to supply water for the horses back when everything was being built.
Some interesting history that I learned! In 1872 a farmer named Joh Gilmer bought several thousand acres of land in the Mt. Airy and Flat Rock area. After finding out that 40 acres was nothing but bare rock, he became furious and wanted his money back! At that point, the worlds finest natural quarry changed hands for practically nothing lol.
About 17 years later the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railroad was built from Greensboro to Mt. Airy. A firm of builders, Thomas Woodruff and Sons were commissioned to build several railroad stations along the way. Acustomed to finding and using local materials, they were quick to learn about the "Flat Rock" east of Mount Airy and purchased John Gilmer's rock for 5,000 dollars. The Woodruff's bought additional land surrounding the rock to build cutting plants and facilities, selling capital stock to get their venture off the ground. Quarrying was underway in 1889 and has continued without interruption.
Hearing of the opening of a huge new quarry, many skilled quarrymen and stone cutters moved into Mount Airy from New England, Scotland, England and Italy. As years passed, more and more Surry County and Virginia natives learned the trades. Today, many descendants of those pioneer granite workers are still employed at NCGC, several with over 30 years experience.
The quarry was operated under the name Thomas Woodruff and Sons until 1904 when The North Carolina Granite Corporation was organized. At that time, the operations consisted of quarrying and shipping rough granite blocks to the job sites where they were fabricated on site. In order to form a farication and expand operations, more capital stock was sold and ownership in the cooperation was scattered from Canada to Florida with important holdings in Philadelphia and the entire state of Pennsylvania. In fact, the principal office was located in Philadelphia for a short time. In 1910, the major stockholders persuaded the Woodruff's to employ John D. Sargent as Quarry Superintendent. Mr. Sargent was from Vermont and was a man of great ability and dynamic personality. Highly experienced in quarrying and finishing, he served as Quarry Superintendent for several years.
Around 1920, J.D. Sargeant leased a shed from the Woodruff's and began is own finishing business. He was now serving in two capacities- Quarry Superintendent for NCGC and owner of the J.D. Sargeant Granite Company. The finishing businessflourished. In fact, it became such a major function of the Mount Airy Granite Industry that it created friction between Mr. Sargeant and the Woodruff's. As a result, Mr. Sargeant obtained financial backing from Colonel F.H. Fries and William Shaffner (bankers from Winston Salem), and Charles B. Keesee (a banker from Martinsville, VA) and purchased the quarrying operation from the Woodruff's. The three bankers put up equal shares in exchange for part ownership in the J.D. Sargeant Granite Company. The four men became known as "The Big Four."
Eventually, The North Carolina Granite Corporation and the J.D. Sargeant Granite Company merged into a single entity. Today NC Granite produces a variety of world class natural stone products ranging from archtectural building stone to granite curbing, crushed stone, and landscaping products.
NOTABLE PROJECTS
United Arab Emirates Chancery
The United Arab Emirates Chancery in Washington, DC received the Grand Prize Award in the 2002 Prism Design Competition. Comprising 35,011 pieces of Mount Airy Granite in three different finishes, this extraordinary piece of architecture surpassed hundreds of international entries.
Brooklyn Battery Tunnel Ventilation Building
Mount Airy White granite was selected as the facade for the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel Ventilation Building in Brooklyn, New York (Governor's Island) after several other materials failed to withstand the harsh marine invironment. The beautiful result earned a prestigious Tucker Design Award in 2006.
The National World War II Memorial - Washington, DC
NCGC supplied granite paving and curb for the National WWII Memorial. Following it's completion in 2004, they were commended for their dedication and valuable contributions to the project.
The Hyatt Center
NCGC quarried and fabricated 48,500 square feet of their Virginia Mist granite for the Hyatt Center in Chicago, including the polished radial wall panels shown above.
This quarry is considered to be the largest open face granite quarry in the world! There are larger ones underground but this one holds the record for above ground.
I hope you enjoyed my walk through this famous granite quarry, feel free to ask any questions!
All photos were taken by me and belong to me except the ones used for Notable Projects. Information about the quarry was obtained from literature that was given to me from a secretary inside the office at the quarry. The literature is owned by North Carolina Granite Corporation.