The Granite Industry of Southwestern New Brunswick: A Historical ...

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24 The Granite Industry of Southwestern New Brunswick: A Historical Perspective The Quarries The 1934 report of Dr. Wright was based chiefly on his three weeks of field work conducted during the months of July and August 1932 as well as some work in 1930. Most of the time was spent in making a plan to show the location of the quarries, taking photographs, making detailed notes on all quarries visited, and collecting specimens of the stone. In all of this work he was assisted by Hayes Baldwin, a wellknown quarry man from the St. George District, to whom he was ‘indebted’ for much of the report’s information. The maps and report were prepared during the winter months of 1933 and 1934. In 1932 three companies were extracting stone from their own quarries in the St. George District and finishing stone in their St. George mills. These were Milne, Coutts & Co.; Meating, Epps Co.; and H. McGrattan & Sons. In addition, several private concerns and individuals either owned or leased quarry sites and supplied stone to the foregoing companies by contract or leasing. Milne, Coutts & Co. known as The Gulley (Map 4). They shared the mill with Alexander Taylor, another ex-Bay of Fundy employee who sought to establish a granite business and who later formed the St. George Granite Works (see p. 36). In 1881 the Milnes, Coutts and Watt leased the quarries and equipment of the bankrupt Bay of Fundy company, including the granite mill beside Magaguadavic Falls (Map 4), and began to extract their own stone. The works themselves are situated a short distance from the main street of the town on the eastern bank of the river, immediately over the falls (from which is derived the motive power), and cover an area of over an acre. The workshops form a quadrangle, divided in sections as follows: 1st, the polishing shops, 250 x 40 feet and one storey high; 2nd, the granite cutting shop of the same size; 3rd. blacksmith, machine and pattern shops, and 4th, offices and store. The inner area of the quadrangle is covered by a large ‘traveller’ that is used for carrying the granite from the cutting shop to the polishing shop and for loading and unloading the granite as it arrives from the quarries and when completed for shipment. ~ The Daily Sun, January 25, 1887 History As mentioned earlier, the young Scottish stoneworkers Alexander Milne, Alex G. Milne, William Coutts and James Watt worked for, and then quit, the Bay of Fundy Red Granite Co., most likely following the November 1874 strike. Initially the men filled orders using stone supplied by John Nichol, finishing it in an old mill (possibly a converted sawmill) they leased on the west side of Magaguadavic Falls in what was Opposite: Milne, Coutts & Co. granite shed, c. 1890s. This image shows the interior of the open quadrangle and the Scottish-built travelling crane used to convey stone blocks between the polishing, cutting and loading sections of the mill. The pulley in the centre of the crane now sits on the lawn in front of the St. George and Area Heritage Association and Museum. It is one of the few pieces of large granite-working equipment remaining in the district. The three men on the left in bowler hats and vests appear to be some of the co-managers. The third man from the left has tentatively been identified as Alexander Milne, who died in 1911. SGHA, H135
Part One — The St. George District 25
Page 1 and 2: Energy and Mines The Granite Indust
Page 3 and 4: Energy and Mines The Granite Indust
Page 5 and 6: Preface and Acknowledgements iii Ta
Page 7 and 8: Preface and Acknowledgements v Pref
Page 9 and 10: Preface and Acknowledgements vii Ac
Page 11 and 12: Part One — The St. George Distric
Page 33: Part One — The St. George Distric
Page 79 and 80: Part Two — The Hampstead District
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Part Two — The Hampstead District
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Appendices 93 class of stone his cu
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Appendices 95 It has long been the
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Appendices 97 Quarry 6, Map 3. View
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Appendices 99 Above left: Quarry 12
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Appendices 101 Above left: Quarry 3
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Appendices 103 Left: Quarry 46 (‘
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