Name/Title
Promotional ButtonEntry/Object ID
1995.22Description
Barre/ The Granite Center 1895-1995 pin. White pin with blue graphics of a male granite cutter with tools in hand central. Around him is an oval of text "1895 BARRE 1995 THE GRANITE CENTER" With a safety clasp pin back.Context
Here is some history to explain the tag "The Granite Center" associated with Barre, Vermont, provided by the Barre Granite Association. (http://barregranite.org/BGAmobile/index.php/pid/5)
" Barre Gray Granite was used extensively in the early 1800’s for millstones, paving stones and home and building construction. It was at that time that Robert Parker became Barre’s first professional quarryman and the first granite manufacturer. Slowly, but steadily the granite industry grew, causing Barre’s population to expand to 2,012 by the year 1830. A few years later the industry would get a tremendous boost with the contract for a new Vermont Statehouse to be built of Barre Gray granite in Montpelier, VT. It was the first major building project to use Barre granite. Then, in 1875, the railroad came to town, giving Barre access to the markets of the world.
In the 1880’s, Barre experienced a technological boom. Emery L. Smith, who later became the first mayor of Barre City, pioneered new quarrying technology, including a permanent derrick, electrically detonated explosives, the steam drill and the pneumatic plug drill. Electricity came to the region in 1885, giving rise to power cutting, polishing, surfacing, carving and stone transferring with overhead cranes.
With rapid growth in the granite industry, immigrants began flooding into Barre, and by 1890 the population had more than to 6,790. The first workers to arrive were Scots, followed by Italians, Scandinavians, Spanish, English, Irish, Greeks, and French-Canadians. When an order for 10 million hand-cut paving stones for the city of Troy, New York, was received, this gave Barre’s granite industry a big boost in the 1890’s. At that time about 40 quarries were cutting granite, primarily for monuments and memorials, and by 1902 Barre became the Granite Center of the World, with 68 quarries producing granite valued at more than $1.5 million."Acquisition
Accession
1995.22Source or Donor
Sherman, MichaelAcquisition Method
GiftLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Primary Object Term
Button, PromotionalNomenclature Class
Advertising MediaNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsDimensions
Depth
1/4 inDiameter
2-3/8 inRelationships
Related Places
Place
City
Barre CityCounty
Washington CountyState/Province
VermontCountry
United States of AmericaContinent
North America