Bequest from the Estate of Elizabeth Beattie, 2023.17.25, Connecticut Museum of Culture and His…

Images(2)

East Quarry trackwalker and derricks

Date1914

MediumPhotography; nitrate negatives

DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (overall height x width): 4 × 4 7/8in. (10.2 × 12.4cm)

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineBequest from the Estate of Elizabeth Beattie

DescriptionBlack and white photographic negative, view of tralkwalker and derricks during the quarrying of granite Rip Rap [human-placed rock used to protect shoreline structures] for the Kelsey Point Breakwater, 1914. An unidentified John Beattie Granite Works laborer walks along steel rail tracks in the East Quarry. Hoisting derricks line the right side of the tracks with two unidentified laborers standing at the far right. The area is strewn with blocks of granite.

Object number2023.17.25

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 1916NotesSubject 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