An Immigrant Journey To The Stony Creek Quarry

Unk DaRos is described by Blackstone librarian Karen Jensen as a Renaissance man – an inventor, stonemason, firefighter, Eagle Scout, and wood carver.

And, yes, Branford’s first selectman.

Unk – who said only his mother called him Anthony – intricately wove his personal history with that of the immigrant experience and the Stony Creek Quarry at a talk this past weekend at the Blackstone Library. DaRos painted a vivid picture of the lives of his ancestors and the workers of the Stony Creek quarry.

The event was sponsored by the Sons of Italy and Lodge 37 as a lead-up to the Columbus Day Parade, which will take place for the first time in Branford on Sunday, Oct. 13. 

DaRos’s Italian ancestors were just one of various waves of immigrants who came to Stony Creek in the 1800s. DaRos’s great-grandfather, Pietro, came over from Italy in 1890 to work in the quarry.

“I worked in the quarry during the winters – from November to March,” he said in response to a question from the audience.

The Germans arrived in the early 1800s, followed by the Irish who immigrated as a result of the Great Potato Famine.

They all saw opportunities in the construction of the railroad, which changed the shoreline communities and brought mining opportunities inland.

They also contributed to the growth of the quarries and the hotel industry.

Their social lives consisted of drinking and music – DaRos noted that there were seven taverns in Stony Creek and the town voted from 1905 on to stay ​“wet.” People often gathered to dance and sing songs of the old country. Others carved stone to pass the time. DaRos said he recalled some old timers making perfectly round 8‑inch round granite balls. ​“I regret to this day that I didn’t pay closer attention on how they did it,” he said.

People also migrated from Northern Europe and England, followed by those from Scandinavia and Italy during 1870 to 1880. 

Along with their prejudices, which they eventually overcame, they brought a strong work ethic, a desire to provide for their families, and a strong social network.

It was the age of granite. Granite was important for its endurance and signified the importance of a given building. It also was used for safety after disastrous fires in the cities.

The quarries’ heyday was 1887 to 1900 when the call for stone was the highest.

More than dozen different nationalities worked in the Norcross quarry in Stony Creek; the Beattie quarry in Guilford was part of the same vein of rock. Each group of immigrants had their special skill set. Skills were handed down from father to son, which made it easier to obtain work. But with that work came danger and illness. Silicosis was not uncommon and sick workers self-medicated by drinking on the job. Friends and family cared for widows and children, by sharing their gardens and chickens.

Quarry workers were paid somewhat more than average workers and, like many immigrants at the time, saved money to bring over their wives and children.

Workers lived in quarry-owned houses throughout Stony Creek; most homes had at least one boarder, he said. Norcross owned 15 houses; Beattie, 22. Here is one view of the main street.

DaRos’s Ancestors

DaRos’s grandmother, Maria Angelina, ran a boarding house that accommodated 60 men in a three-story, 150-foot-long building. She did the laundry and cooked three meals a day, catering to the different nationalities. The rooms were simple, and the building was heated by a wood-burning stove. The white-washed walls were a type of artist’s canvas for the residents who painted murals depicting scenes from the old country.

“I can remember most details of the boarding house,” DaRos said. ​“I would spend a lot of time up in the woods, we referred to the old homestead as ​‘up in the woods.’”

There was also a boarding house for American workers and a sort of selective segregation was practiced.

In 1956 the house and acreage were sold to DaRos’s grandfather, Giacomo, as payment for his years as a watchman. He built a new house with modern amenities and the old boarding house was torn down in 1959.

The DaRos men all had different jobs within the quarry.

DaRos’s great grandfather, Pietro, who came to Stony Creek with his wife Theresa, in 1890, followed various jobs within Sachem’s Head, Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont and back to Stony Creek Quarry and then to Beatties’ quarry in Guilford.

His grandparents, Giacomo and Maria Angelia, ran the boarding house, and Giacomo was an operating engineer with Dodd (which had purchased the quarry from Norcross). He ran the steam locomotives and hoisting engines. Giacomo had returned to Italy around 1905 to marry, and to avoid being drafted by the Italian army, escaped into France with the assistance of a train conductor.

DaRos said his grandparents lived like pioneers, but they entertained family and friends and supported the community. Giacomo attended Mass every Sunday at 8 a.m. with his sister Mary, sitting in the same pew.

DaRos’s father, Peter, born in 1911, was a blacksmith helper, known as a nipper. Nippers sharpened the tools for the workers and ran them back and forth to the quarry. Here is Unk in the arms of his father. 

Quarry’s Ups And Downs

Labor disputes punctuated the history of the Stony Creek quarry and affected the production of granite. Concrete and steel replaced granite, the labor strike of 1900, and the increased of the cost of blasting powder due to World War I all contributed to reduced demand. It was relatively idle from 1903 to 1920, until the Dodd Granite Company bought out Norcross. The quarry was active until the 1930s when the quarrymen’s association called another nationwide strike and workers were again locked out.

Workers subsequently found jobs building the shoreline trolley, in Branford’s factories, or as caretakers, stonemasons. In addition the rebuilding efforts from the 1938 provided much-needed work.

Only a few men remained working in the quarry, which was bought by Castellucci Brothers in 1957. In 1977, 425 acres were bought by the town, state, and federal government and 50 acres were leased back to quarry operators. 

The famous pink granite now has a new life, Darrell Petit, who is in charge of business development at the Stony Creek Quarry Corp, told the Eagle in a recent story.

Petit is reaching out to prospective clients In New York and across the nation to let them know that Stony Creek granite is making a comeback. Areas that have a history of using the granite are being targeted. As of February, six projects were under way and four others were pending, including some unique benches in New York City’s Battery Park.

The quarry is also well known today for its walking tours (often led by DaRos and former Guilford First Selectman Carl Balestracci) and as an artistic venue.

The population of Stony Creek is reflected the quarry’s cycle, growing from 330 people in 1887 as a fishing and farming community to 1,395 by 1900 with the coming of the railroad and growth of the quarry, and declining around 1905 with the decline of the quarry.

Today, as a residential and tourist mecca, the population is about what it was in 1900.

Geology of the Quarry

DaRos is as well versed about the geology of the area as he is about its sociology. He said the quarry a product of magma upheavals. It was formed during the ice age – magma welled up from the earth, which was then scraped by glaciers, exposing the granite.

A fault runs through Branford and North Branford. On the west is basalt (trap rock) and on the east is granite. The Stony Creek quarry produces ​“medium grade” granite, swirled not layered. Its signature ​“pink granite” is a trademarked name.

DaRos says the real story of this time is ​“of scratching out a living.” There were long hours and hard work was required just to put food on the table. He adds, ​“It is a story of exploitation, low wages, poor working conditions, long hours, child labor, indifference to safety by management, all for the sake of boasting profits to the stockholders.”

He adds that in spite of everything, these immigrants went on to build a nation by becoming public and corporate leaders, ​“professionals in every discipline, masters in their trade.”

It’s a familiar story made personal.

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