In partnership with the Maine Memory Network Maine Memory Network

In the Beginning - Raw Materials - Quarrying

Many of America's finest public monuments were cut from Hallowell granite and sculpted by her artisans

Communities grow where nature provides raw materials and the ready access to transportation. Hallowell is no exception.

The Kennebec is the thoroughfare. Like most communities in Maine the resource first exploited was timber, processed into potash was for export to Britain's soap-making industry. Quarrying granite soon followed.

Outcroppings like those of Hain’s Ledge Quarry west of town provided easy access to the raw material.