[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 143 (Wednesday, September 7, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4469-S4470]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           RECOGNIZING THE GRANITE INDUSTRY IN BARRE, VERMONT

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I have been honored that Vermonters have 
sent me here to the U.S. Senate to represent them for many years. In 
turn, I always welcome the opportunity to recognize the commitments, 
achievements, and successes of Vermonters and the industries found in 
the Green Mountain State. Today, I want to highlight the granite center 
of the world--not Italy, China, or Brazil--but Barre, a small town of 
just over 8,500 year-round residents nestled among the Green Mountains 
in central Vermont.
  It was 350 million years ago when geologic processes created a unique 
granite formation 10 miles deep, 4 miles long, and 2 miles wide in the 
heart of present-day Barre. This extraordinary formation is now home to 
the world's largest deep-hole granite quarry that produces a form of 
granite called ``Barre Gray.'' Known around the world as the finest 
quality gray granite on the market, Barre Gray has been an economic 
engine and tourist attraction in central Vermont since the first quarry 
opened in the 19th century. Barre Gray is renowned by fine architects, 
builders, and sculpture artists in every corner of the world and is 
just another example of the exports coming from Vermont and extracted 
by Vermonters.
  The granite industry in Barre has brought jobs and economic 
opportunity to thousands of Vermonters over the years, including many 
immigrants. Like my grandparents, many people came to Vermont from 
Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries in search of a better life. 
Through a combination of hard work, skill, luck, and the geologic 
processes that created Barre Gray 350 million years ago, many Scottish, 
Irish, and Italian immigrants were able to build better lives for 
themselves in Vermont working in the granite industry. Unfortunately, 
many of the immigrants working in the Barre granite industry also died 
in high numbers during the 1918 influenza pandemic. As many of the 
Vermonters we tragically lost to COVID-19 are now laid to rest under 
Barre Gray granite headstones, so too are many of those who worked the 
Barre granite quarry over 100 years ago.
  Today, the granite quarry and surrounding manufacturing facilities 
employ more than 1,000 Vermonters who create the vast majority of the 
granite used in headstones and memorials in the United States. The Rock 
of Ages visitor center offers tours of the quarry and their 160,000-
square-foot manufacturing facility, which in addition to the nearby 
Vermont Granite Museum, attract more than 100,000 visitors per year. 
These institutions also serve as important educational experiences for 
classes of local school children who frequently take field trips to see 
the geology taught in their textbooks take place in real life.
  The granite industry and its history in Barre were profiled in a June 
16, 2022, article published in the Washington Post. I ask unanimous 
consent that the article titled, ``In Barre, Vt., granite is a way of 
life--and beyond,'' be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

               [From the Washington Post, June 16, 2022]

          In Barre, Vt., Granite Is a Way of Life--and Beyond

                          (By Walter Nicklin)

       If one's final earthly travel destination is a graveyard, 
     then the penultimate stop might well be Barre, Vt., the self-
     proclaimed ``granite center of the world.'' Here, in the 
     scenic foothills of the Green Mountains, are the quarries 
     that produce many of America's most sought-after tombstones.
       Business is booming. The pandemic's ``excess mortality'' 
     has meant increased demand for quality granite to be 
     quarried, then crafted into memorials. Moreover, as aging 
     baby boomers realize they won't live forever, they often 
     embrace their own mortality by purchasing ``pre-need 
     memorials.''
       Even if you don't like the idea of picking your own 
     tombstone, Barre (pronounced ``Barry'') is worth a visit. 
     You'll gain an appreciation for what you may have previously 
     taken for granted, or simply preferred not to contemplate--
     namely, gravestones. You'll learn about their fascinating 
     history, along with the remarkable industry and craft 
     required in creating them. Most fundamentally, you'll be 
     exposed to the geological story behind the sturdy stone that 
     carvers use to immortalize human transience.
       Although small (population less than 10,000), Barre is easy 
     to find, just seven miles from the state capital of 
     Montpelier. Signage for Exit 6 on Interstate 89 lets you know 
     this is where the ``Granite Quarries'' are. You then might 
     drive along Quarry Street or Stone Road on your way to a 
     place called Graniteville. Along the way, you may pass the 
     Cornerstone Pub & Kitchen, spot fence posts made out of 
     granite and catch sight of what otherwise would be 
     unremarkable commercial signs, such as for lawyers' offices, 
     engraved in granite.
       Granite, granite, everywhere--highlighting the town's 
     economic raison d'etre and the stone artistry of its 
     residents. In front of the public library stands a stone 
     statue of Charles Dickens's Mr. Pickwick. Another statue--of 
     the poet Robert Bums, next to the Vermont History Center--was 
     erected by the 19th-century Scottish masons who brought their 
     stonecutting skills to Barre. On the other side of town is 
     another, equally imposing statue personifying the Italian 
     stonemasons who also brought their skills to Barre.
       The European immigrants brought with them a tradition of 
     organized labor, and Barre became the headquarters for the 
     Quarry Workers' International Union of North America. Still 
     standing on Granite Street is the old Socialist Labor Party 
     Hall, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 
     2000.
       Rock of Ages--not the hymn but a quarry company with a 
     visitor center of the same name--is perhaps Barre's single 
     biggest tourist draw, typically attracting more than 100,000 
     visitors annually. In the fall, when the leaves turn 
     colorful, attendance peaks. But in mid-May, on the very first 
     day it opened for the summer season, my wife, Pat, and I 
     were pleased to find not much of a crowd. In fact, ours 
     was one of only three cars in the caravan that Roger, the 
     tour guide, led from the visitor center to the huge Rock 
     of Ages excavation site called the E.L. Smith Quarry. 
     Still, Roger jotted on an index card the number of cars 
     and the number of occupants in each car, so he could be 
     sure that he could account for everyone at tour's end--
     that no one had fallen and vanished into the massive hole 
     in the ground. Covering about 50 acres and almost 600 feet 
     deep, it lays claim to being the world's largest operating 
     deep-hole quarry for dimension stone. (Crushed stone--
     gravel--is the product of other quarries.)
       Now retired after having worked most of his life in the 
     quarry, Roger knew whereof he spoke. He explained that the 
     granite quarried here--known as ``Barre Gray''--is known 
     worldwide for its fine grain, even texture and superior 
     weather resistance. Its unique proportions of quartz and 
     feldspar (granite's main ingredients) make it especially hard 
     while also exceptionally receptive to intricate carving and 
     sculpting.
       The granite was formed as intrusive igneous rock 
     approximately 350 million years ago. Called a pluton by 
     geologists, the Barre granite formation is calculated to be 
     four miles long, two miles wide and 10 miles deep. Based on 
     what had been extracted since the Barre quarries began 
     operation in the 19th century, Roger estimated that ``it 
     would take 4,500 years to extract all the granite.''
       Perched on the quarry's edge was a chain-link fence to 
     prevent visitors like us from

[[Page S4470]]

     falling in. I had seen many quarries over the years, but 
     nothing like this. As if guarding a precious artwork, the 
     fence barrier seemed to make the scene that much more 
     spectacular, even otherworldly. The quarry's sheer sides, 
     where blocks and slabs had been cut away, looked like a huge 
     canvas of abstract art, with oxidized water stains dripping 
     like paint. At the very bottom was a turquoise pool, this 
     seemingly out-of-place color created by granite sediments and 
     crystals in the water when slabs of rock are cut. Framing the 
     scene in the far distance, the distinctive outline of Camel's 
     Hump, Vermont's third-highest peak, punctuates the horizon.
       About five miles away is the Vermont Granite Museum, housed 
     in a renovated manufacturing shed that dates from the tum of 
     the last century. Although massive (about 30,000 square 
     feet), it was called a ``shed'' for its open layout and 
     cathedral-like ceiling. Machinery to cut and move the granite 
     blocks was powered by a dam and turbines on the nearby 
     Stevens Branch of the Winooski River. A railroad spur, 
     leading directly to the shed, could then transport the 
     finished stonework. Today's visitors are transported back in 
     time through hands-on exhibits and collections of rock 
     specimens and old tools, even industrial rollers made of 
     granite.
       Nearby Hope Cemetery showcases local granite and the 
     artistry it spawned. Established in 1895, the 65-acre, 
     parklike setting is a splendid example of the 19th-century 
     garden cemetery movement, which favored burials in rural, 
     nonsectarian settings. The coincident, ever-more-popular use 
     of granite for tombstones and memorials created an outdoor 
     museum of sculpture. The once-prevalent sandstone slates and 
     marble headstones proved much less enduring than granite.
       I've been called a tombstone tourist for past pilgrimages 
     to the dead-celebrity-populated burial ground Pere Lachaise 
     in Paris and Cimitero Acattolico, the Roman cemetery where 
     the poet John Keats's gravestone famously reads, ``Here lies 
     One Whose Name was writ in Water.'' But you don't have to be 
     a melancholic taphophile to appreciate the artistry on 
     display in Hope Cemetery, such as a Pieta-like statue and 
     realistic representations of violins and airplanes. It's the 
     ``Uffizi of Necropolises,'' in the words of Vermont 
     folklorist Joseph A. Citro. All of the monuments are made of 
     Barre Gray, and virtually all have been sculpted by Barre 
     stonemasons--some for their own graves before they died.
       For Pat and me, who had lost one old friend to covid-19, a 
     lone granite memorial in Hope Cemetery seemed especially 
     poignant. Erected on the centenary of the 1918 pandemic, it 
     commemorated the many Barre residents who had died of the 
     flu. They had suffered disproportionately because of their 
     existing silicosis (called stonecutters' disease) from 
     inhaling granite dust while working in unventilated sheds.
       Our visit to Barre was not all about death and granite, 
     however. The trip easily included the Vermont fare of covered 
     bridges, village greens, white church spires and maple syrup. 
     Indeed, Pat insisted that we experience that quintessential 
     summertime taste of the Green Mountain State: a frosty 
     creemee. ``What's that?'' I asked. The delicious answer came 
     at the Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks: towering swirls of soft 
     ice cream, especially creamy, served in a cup or cone, 
     accented with a generous portion of maple syrup or straight 
     maple sugar.
       As granite is hard and enduring, a creemee is soft and 
     ephemeral--a most harmonious balance.

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