Bequest from the Estate of Elizabeth Beattie, 2023.17.24, Connecticut Museum of Culture and His…

Images(2)

Quarry Flagpole

Date1914-1918

MediumPhotography; nitrate negatives

DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (overall height x width): 5 1/4 × 3 1/16in. (13.3 × 7.8cm)

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineBequest from the Estate of Elizabeth Beattie

DescriptionBlack and white photographic negative, view of an American flag flying from a white flagpole at the John Beattie Granite Works. The flag pole is at center with small frame buildings and derricks on either side. View of quarry wall in background.

Object number2023.17.24

CopyrightPublic Domain

Inscribed(.20-.25) Typed on envelope: QUARRY PICTURES / 1. The Scale Dock, Schr TOM BEATTIE / 2. West Quarry, with derricks looking west / 3. Steam drillers. / 4. Tug ENTERPRISE, Schrs. TOM BEATTIE and AMERICAN EAGLE at East Quarry pier / 5. East Quarry trackwalker & derricks 1916NotesContext Note: According to the Guilford Free Library, this flagpole was erected at the Beattie Quarry at the beginning of World War 1.

Subject Note: John Beattie's granite quarry, situated in Guilford on the Long Island Sound, was well-positioned to distribute granite via a fleet of schooners to locations in Connecticut and New York. Notably, granite from Beattie's quarry was used in the pedestal at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

The quarry operated from 1869, when Scottish immigrant Beattie purchased 400 acres of land on Leetes Island, until about 1918, when Beattie's sons closed up shop 20 years after his death. At its height, the quarry employed 700 people, many of them immigrants from Scotland, Ireland, England, Finland, Sweden, and Italy.

Subject Terms