If the granite blocks that serve as footings under the bridges along the Connecticut River or granite that was used in the construction of buildings, such as those on the Northfield campus or the Dickinson Memorial Library, if those stones could speak, they might tell us from where they came. We understand that the granite on these projects came, in many cases, from the hills of Northfield if not from nearby.
Some of the stone came from a quarry in Northfield Farms on land that is now owned by the Northfield Mountain facility. Stone cutters, or masons, came to live in the neighborhood and were hired to cut the stone and draw it down to the river with big horse-drawn sleds. There it was loaded onto a barge that would float its consignment down the river to be used in the construction of the Turners Falls Bridge.
Another quarry was up off of South Mountain Road and much of the granite used for buildings at the Northfield Mount Hermon Schools was drawn from there, railroad cars employed to transfer the heavy load down to the railroad line at the bottom of the hill. There was another quarry over the state line into Winchester that was mined. The quarries have long since gone silent leaving a legacy to further explore.
–Joel Fowler, 2024
Northfield Historical Society 