Rock of Ages

Today for P-Day we went to see the Rock of Ages Quarry in Barre Vermont. It is from this quarry in Barre VT. that the granite for the Joseph Smith Memorial Birthday Site Monument was taken. Within about 20-25 miles there are a few quarry's and each has its own distinct color of stone, in Barre it is a grey speckled color, in Bethel Vt(where the stone for the Bountiful Temple came from), it is white. The Quarry in Barre VT. is thought to be about 4+ miles wide, 5+ mile long, and 10+ miles deep. At the current rate of use there is enough granite to last another 4500 years. WOW! The pictures (taken from the internet) show the method the granite is cut .... not straight down, but with ridges so as to retain strength as they cut deeper. The water at the bottom is rain/snow and water used in cutting to keep the stone dust down .... from time to time they must pump it out. The large cranes have 15 miles of guy wires to give them strength in lifting stone from the quarry floor, and to keep them standing in a high wind. They do very heavy lifts but prefer to bring up cuts of 35,000 lbs or less. NOW all that said. This is the very quarry that the stone for the monument came from in 1905 when the monument was built. It was a new quarry in 1896 so the stone would have been close to ground level .... thank goodness. Our trip there today gave us a much better appreciation for the work that was done to complete the Joseph Smith Monument. As the monument sits it is 100,000# of granite. The Obelisk is 40,000#, and the base is made up of 5 pieces and weights 60,000#. We feel so priviledged to have been called to serve in this very special, sacred place.