Rock Of Ages Graniteville, VT.

Today  Diane and I are going to the Rock of Ages Granite mine and processing factory in Barre, Vt. I read that this company is world recognized for it high grade granite and its award winning craftsman.

This is the factory floor. They have a  viewing walkway where you can watch what is going on.

This is the other side of factory. 

They make all kinds of grave markers, monuments, etc. Here is a craftsman working on a headstone.

There is a short movie in the visitor center and gift shop, you can watch before or after the tour. Diane bought a grey mortar and pestle in the gift shop that was made in the factory.

This is the company's statement that was on the wall of the viewing walkway.

We walked outside to an area where there were blank examples of the different colors of granite.

It was then time for our tour of the mine itself. We paid $5 each for a bus ride to the mine which is just a few minutes away.

This  mine only produces the grey granite, but owns other mines of the other color granite.This is looking down into the mine. You can see where they have carved out blocks of granite from the surface on down. They say there is enough granite here to last them for many many years.

Here you can see some of the miners working with a cutting & drilling machine. You can see the big yellow cranes that lift huge chucks of granite out of the mine. Check out the guide wires that keep the cranes in place. Every month a man crawls to the top of the cranes to check the wires. The mine tour was OK, but I'm not sure I would recommend it.

This is a granite statue outside the mine in the town of Barre. It was made by Rock of Ages Company.

Another statue in the town, it is a tribute to the craftsman.

On our way home we stopped at the Hope Cemetery again to take a picture of this grave marker. We say a picture of  it at the factory and didn't realize that it had the names of the children on the chain loops.

Note the names on the loops.