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Babson Farm
Quarry SelfGuided Tour/
Long before Colonial settlers arrived in the 1690s, groups
of Pawtucket Indians used this part of Cape Ann as a summer home. Both the natives and the newcomers sustained
themselves by a combination of fishing, hunting, and
farming. It was not until the nineteenth century that
Halibut Point’s 450 million-year-old granite was first cut
into blocks of stone. Sometime around mid-1800, local
men opened a quarry here; for nearly one hundred years,
Halibut Point was the site of a working quarry.
1. The Babson Farm Quarry
Trail Map
The quarry before you, known as the Babson Farm
Quarry, was abandoned in 1929 when the local granite
industry collapsed. Once stone cutting stopped here, rain,
runoff, and springs on the quarry floor quickly filled the
pit with water. When a quarry is being worked, keeping it
dry is a constant problem. In the early days quarrymen
removed the water by hand, a bucket at a time, or by
harnessing a team of oxen to a winch. Some quarries
installed wind-powered pumps, by the 1860s, most used
steam engines, running day and night, to pump water
from the quarry floor.
2. Hoisting machines
Cape Ann granite weighs 168 pounds per cubic foot.
Moving the stone to the surface posed a major challenge
to nineteenth–century technology. Quarrymen devised an
arrangement of blocks-and-tackles and pulleys, called a
derrick, to hoist the stone. Each derrick had a tall vertical
shaft, called a mast, and a horizontal support, called a
boom. Before steam engines became available in the
1850s, derricks were powered by hand or by teams of
The brown color of the granite across the quarry to your
left is the result of water and iron oxide seeping down
through seams in the stone over thousands of years.
During the nineteenth century, this “seam-faced” granite
was considered undesirable because of its color, but after
1900 it came into fashion as a veneer covering for buildings. After being removed from the quarry, it was taken to
a cutting shed, cut into pieces two or three inches thick,
and polished to a high gloss.
oxen. Steam engines made it possible to hoist larger
sections of granite from the quarry floor. Bolted to granite
blocks like the one in front of you, steam operated hoist-
5. Working a Motion
ing machines lifted the stone. During the quarry’s busiest
The small body of water in front of you is called a motion,
years, circa 1910, there were four derricks in use here.
the quarrymen’s term for a small quarry. A motion was
One had a ninety–six-foot mast and an eighty-foot boom
generally worked by two men, who used drills and ham-
and could lift forty tons. In 1912, an even bigger derrick
mers to cut the rectangular blocks used for paving streets.
was erected with a mast that towered 107 feet in the air.
Across the motion is the foundation of a coal-burning
3. Dog Holes
plant that generated steam to run the drills and hoisting
The row of holes along the top edge of the granite here
foundation are the remains of a railroad embankment. In
were drilled in order to split the granite. (See #6.) The
1910, the quarry’s owner, the Rockport Granite Company,
round hole you see on the front of this piece of stone is
purchased a train engine, christened the “Nella,” to haul
called a dog hole. Large blocks of granite typically had a
granite from the quarry site to the pier at nearby Folly’s
dog hole drilled in each end to hold the giant hooks that
Cove. At the cove, the stone was loaded onto specially
were suspended from the derrick. The hooks were hung
designed ships that carried it to markets all over the
from heavy chains which tightened as the block of stone
world.
equipment for the main quarry. Looming behind the
was lifted from the quarry floor.
Once the block reached the surface, it was moved by oxen,
horse, or train to sheds, where men who specialized in
cutting shaped it into paving, curbing, or building stone.
Babson Farm Quarry, around 1909
4. Dead Men
Large iron staples like the one embedded in this granite
HALIBUT POINT STATE PARK
Department of Conservation and Recreation
4 Gott Avenue, Rockport, MA 01966
978-546-2997 www.mass.gov/dcr
surface were known as dead men. It took at least six dead
men to anchor the cables that held a derrick in place.
“The Nella” hauling granite from Halibut Point.
6. Splitting the Stone
8. The Steam-powered Drill
10. Decline of Quarrying
Public Programs
In the early days of the industry, granite was split using
The size of the holes on this piece of granite is a sign that
The quarry on Halibut Point closed in 1929. Within a year,
they were made by a steam-powered drill. When steam
the Rockport Granite Company went out of business. The
Year round, staff and volunteers offer programs at
a flat chisel, shims, and flat wedges. The cutter made a
drills were invented in the 1880s, it was possible to cut
granite industry collapsed along with the rest of the
(www.mass.gov/locations/halibut-point-state-park),
shims in the hole and drove a wedge down between
deeper holes and thus to produce larger pieces of stone.
nation’s economy. The growing preference for steel build-
Before steam drills came into use, even the deep holes
ings and for concrete and asphalt road surfaces guaranteed
ask park staff, or call the visitor’s center (978-546-2997)
them. Beginning around 1840, round drills replaced
the chisels and half-round shims—like the ones that
needed for blasting were made by hand. A long drill was
that the industry never recovered. Nature reclaimed the
can still be seen in this piece of granite—replaced the
struck by a sledge hammer to make the holes that black
rugged landscape of Halibut Point. The sound of the sea
flat shims.
powder, and later dynamite, was poured into.
hole in the stone with his chisel; then he placed two
Halibut Point State Park. Please check our website
for the latest offerings. Programs change daily and
seasonally!
and the wind no longer compete with the sound of steam
engines and train whistles. Now, people come here not to
Friends of Halibut Point State Park
work but to spend leisure hours enjoying the beauty that
the Halibut Point State Park was created to preserve.
The Friends of Halibut Point State Park is a non-profit
group formed in 1985 to support the park and its mission. Its objectives include the improvement and
Visitor’s Center
Located in a renovated World War II fire-0control tower,
Steam drills and operators.
Through fundraising efforts, the group has provided
museum quality exhibits, purchased tools for granite-
nance budget, and contributed in many other ways.
the war to provide aiming information to the crews of the
Friends serve as park volunteers, staffing the visitor’s
carded granite pieces dumped here over many years. If
attack by sea. Today, the 60-foot tall structure offers views
Water is conserved though the use of composting toilets
Bay Breakwater, off the coast of Rockport Harbor. In
set in the ground and used to secure ships to docks and
and a graywater recycling system. In addition, a photovol-
1885, the federal government began constructing the
wharves. Many of the ships that tied their lines to a granite
taic system generates electricity, solar/thermal panels
breakwater to create an anchorage for as many as
bollard carried other products of Cape Ann’s granite indus-
provide hot water, and a geothermal pump augments the
5,000 ships. Until lack of funds that went to War
try on their decks. Granite quarried on Cape Ann went to
building’s heating/cooling system. The building also serves
efforts brought the project to a halt in 1915, much of
build bridges, tunnels, government buildings, warehouses,
as the park’s administrative headquarters.
the granite from the Halibut Point quarry went into
and monuments, and to pave thousands of city streets.
THE GROUT PILE; THE STONES ARE
UNSTABLE AND VERY DANGEROUS.
events.
Membership information is available at the Visitor’s
Cut by hand, granite posts or bollards, like this one were
PLEASE DO NOT CLIMB ON THE SIDES OF
center, conducting tours, and providing hospitality at
that extend as far north as the coast of Maine.
look to your right, you MIGHT be able to see the Sandy
building the breakwater.
splitting demonstrations, augmented the park mainte-
the public along the New England coast, was used during
You are standing on the grout pile, a mountain of disyou climb to the top of the pile, face the ocean, and
artifacts related to granite quarrying on Cape Ann.
features exhibits related to the park’s natural and cultural
massive guns that protected Boston and Portsmouth from
9. Granite Bollards
natural beauty, and the collection and preservation of
near the edge of the Babson Farm quarry, the center
history. The tower itself, the only one of its kind open to
7. The Grout Pile
protection of park facilities, enhancement of the park’s
Center at fohpsp@gmail.com or through their website
(www.halibutpointfriends.org) or Facebook Page.
Visitor Guidelines
• Park hours are 8AM to sunset
• Parking fee is charged May-October
• Please no
• Quarry swimming or access anytime
• Alcoholic beverages
• Removal of park resources (including
•
•
•
•
PLANTS, ANIMALS, SHELLS, ROCKS)
Off-leash pets
Fires, grills,
Bikes, scooters, hover boards
[walk your wheels]
Please follow posted signs
For More Information
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and
Recreation (DCR) is steward to over 450,000 acres
throughout Massachusetts. Its mission is to protect,
promote and enhance our common wealth of natural,
cultural and recreational resources. For information
on DCR, visit www.mass.gov/dcr, call 617-626-1250 or
write DCR 10 Park Plaza Suite 6620, Boston, MA
02116.
Donations
Donations are gratefully accepted and are used to fund
park enhancement projects. Please make checks payable to DCR Conservation Trust and mail to: DCR 10
Park Plaza Suite 6620, Boston, MA 02116 or call 617626-1267 for more information.
This brochure was produced by the Department of
Environmental Management, now Department of Conservation & Recreation, and the Halibut Point Association, now Friends. Edited December 6, 2023.
