Forever we’ve passed through the Redstone section of Conway, New Hampshire, and knew that Rattlesnake Mountain behind the village had once been a quarry, but we had not explored it. Today, we changed that.

Crossing over the Maine Central Railroad tracks, the first vantage point took our eyes to the snow-covered summit of Mount Washington.

In the opposite direction, we focused on the route to Maine, where quarried stone would have traveled on its way to locations beyond. According to redstonequarrynh.org, “Redstone granite was used in many buildings in Portland, Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C. and as far away as Denver, CO and Havana, Cuba. The Hatch Memorial Shell, in Boston, is of Conway green. Grant’s Tomb in New York, the National Archives building in Washington, and the George Washington Memorial Masonic Temple in Alexandria, V.A. were built mostly of Conway pink granite.“

As you gaze upon the map, you may notice three quarry sites in the upper left-hand section: green quarry, red quarry, old red quarry. In the height of operation, more than 300 men were employed.

Today’s journey found us hiking to one, then another, and the third, then back again.

Thank goodness for a landmark we frequently returned to for it gave us our bearings each time we encountered it.

We didn’t have to walk far to encounter another landmark, a polished green granite pilaster about twenty feet long. How often do you see one of these when you walk in the woods?

Artifacts exist here, there, and everywhere from the quarry that was in operation from the 1870s to 1948.

Slowly the forest and its inhabitants are staking their claim on the territory.

We poked about and tried to understand how the wheels turned, but would have appreciated an interpretive guide. Or at least a few interpretive signs to tell the story.

Man and nature intersected everywhere and it was while noticing the cables and guy wires that were strung throughout that we spied artist conk fungi in a prolific display.

And nearby, the woody capsules atop Pipsissewa representing a current memory of a past moment, e.g. the flowering form.

Our next great discovery, the lathe. The Redstone Granite site states: “Lathes were used to rough-turn and polish granite columns (some as long as 22 feet). The building is one of the best preserved because of its function. Most of the roof was open, allowing large granite columns to be lowered and removed by a derrick from above.“

We peeked within at other portions of the machine.

Turns out, it was built by the Betts Machine Company, a manufacturer of heavy machinery such as this site needed.

The faceplate of the lathe was used for the final polishing process. But more importantly, a birch tree grows in Brooklyn. Or rather, in the building that housed the lathe.

We left the structures behind and headed uphill, curious about what the actual quarries looked like.

At the red quarry, a pile of slash littered the mountainside–those stones that hadn’t split in the right orientation to make them profitable.

Among the remains we could see short and deep drill marks and thought of the work of the men who worked the granite. Their days began at 7am. If you take a look at the map, you’ll see a note that some walked home for lunch each day. Apparently, those were the men who worked in the yard and stone sheds, and lived in the boarding house. Everyone else brought their own lunch. Though their shifts were eight hours, like many jobs, overtime was necessary to complete the work. Did they get paid extra? Probably not.

From the red quarry we made our way to the green quarry, filled with ice-coated water. For me, this was the most intriguing site.

Above, water had frozen in time, much as the history of this place.

To the far side, corrugated marks were etched into the stone.

Beside the pond, some of the slash included a variety of drill sizes.

From the green quarry, we retraced our steps back to the mossy ski boot, and eventually moved to the east where we suddenly came upon a beaked hazelnut. It’s a rare occasion to find such a casing still intact, so coveted are they by the mammals that inhabit this land.

Following the trail and a wee bit of bushwhacking led us to the old red quarry, which we assumed to be the first site. Once again, there was so much slash left behind that it was difficult to appreciate what had been processed.

And then we returned to the ski boot one more time and decided to check out a trail we’d seen previously that seemed to pass by the green quarry. Suddenly, we discovered a granite pathway. What should one do when the road is so paved? Follow it.

Much to our delight, it led us back to the green quarry and gave us a different perspective.

In the midst of the water stood the remains of a derrick. Guy wires, wooden booms and masts from these devices decorated the woods throughout.

Many structures in collapse also stood as landmarks of a former use of this land.

Surprises greeted us every step of the way. Some were easy to understand as this lantern; others required more interpretation.

In the end, we realized that there’s so much more to learn about this place, but we loved the opportunity to shine a wee bit of light on the Redstone Granite Quarries.