The Stony Creek Quarry’s Monumental Feat

Since stepping down as Branford’s first selectman in 2013, Anthony ​“Unk” DaRos has not been sitting idle.

He has been working on several projects. One dear to his heart centers on the Stony Creek Quarry and its history, in particular the monument at West Point Academy, which is made of granite from the Quarry. 

But few probably know the story behind the monument, how it was fabricated and transported to West Point, New York.

Always the expert on the Stony Creek Quarry, DaRos shared the details of that 30-year effort before an audience of 50 or so at the Willoughby Wallace Library recently. The effort seems herculean by today’s standards, but DaRos said it was a common practice; all 12 men employed at the quarry at the time worked on the monument.it.

DaRos, who has studied the project, said the story began in 1863 when newspapers of the day were giving attention to volunteers from the Civil War rather than the regular Army. ​“Every town was affected by the Civil War,” DaRos said, ​“Monuments were being erected everywhere.”

A debate was taking place at West Point about what would be proper: a chapel or perhaps a dining hall?

A.E. Church, a math professor at West Point, settled the argument in favor of creating a monument.

It was determined that the monument would be dedicated to members of the regular Army. A committee was formed and subscriptions for its construction were sold to the Army, with the amount determined by rank. By 1871, $14,856 was raised, but the funds languished for 20 years. By the time construction started in 1890, the $14,000 had increased to $63,000.

Melted down Confederate cannons were used as part of the decoration at the base and in 1891, the project was put out to bid.

DaRos said that many of the designs were massive and gaudy, but McKim, Meade and White produced a design that was ​“eloquent military bearing, not overwhelming.”

Norcross Brothers Construction, nationally known granite contractors, of Stony Creek, was selected to fabricate the Sanford White column design. Norcross’s task was to quarry, fabricate, transport and erect the monument. Norcross was paid the princely sum of $46,134.84.

Fabrication

The monument originated from one long continuous block of granite, weighing 300 tons.

Quarrymen started by drilling a series of holes 6 to 8 inches apart, then rolled the stone and peeled off the layers by hand. When it was down to about 100 tons, shaping took place by hand.

Unk displayed the tools used in the process. He explained that axles were placed at each end.

The stone was turned by steam engine and wire rope and tackle at 6 rpms until it was close to being finished. It was cradled in cast iron planes and ​“chilled shot” (lead) and lime water, used for shaping, were shoveled into the planes, then washed off. By then it weighed just 93 tons.

Coarse emery, then fine emery were then used in a process that took 36 to 40 hours. The next step in polishing used heavy felt pads and putty paste, which took another 50 hours. A still finer polish required another 8 hours.

With the fabrication and polishing completed, the monument was crated up in a process using 14-x-14-foot beams that would protect the stone and facilitate its erection.

Finally the column was moved along Quarry Road to the New Haven-Hartford Railroad Line. Unk’s model helped the audience to understand the transport process.

Transport

The column was to be transported via a specially built 80-foot railroad platform, consisting of two cars. The rail line ran from Old Saybrook to Hartford, then to Fishkill, New York. It was then placed on a boat to cross the Hudson to Newburgh, New York to a small railroad line. Its owners did not want a piece that heavy to use its tracks, so the monument sat there until they receive approval.

Finally the column was on its way to West Point by means of a ​“leap frog” process using a steam engine to maneuver it to the site, which was at an elevation of 200 feet. The payload was 123 tons, which included the 93-ton column, plus the crate.

At the monument site, lead lined the base of the foundation and the foundation itself was filled with sand. Once the column and the crate were at the site, workers cut off the bottom of the crate, let the sand out of the base, and slid the column into it. But not after a derrick was built and staged on site. Engineers said it wouldn’t work, but they were proved wrong by the system of jacks that was constructed to finally lift the column in place.

By now it was spring 1894. The monument is at the site.

The monument’s capstone was a sculpture of Victory, a giant angel. However, that took a disagreeable turn. It took two tries to get it right. With the first attempt, according to DaRos, the sculptor, Frederick MacMonnies, ​“took a beating.” West Point’s quartermaster and committee said it wasn’t what he drew. In reality, little direction was given to the sculptor. The second attempt proved more acceptable.

Then it took another three years to fix the monument’s typos – spelling of the names and punctuation. 

When the dedication finally took place on May 31, 1897, only 166 officers were alive out of the 2,042 enlisted. And out of the 900 who contributed, only 100 were still alive. DaRos noted that people complained it was a long ceremony. Art Webb of Stony Creek attended the ceremony.

DaRos put to rest rumors of mishaps that surrounded the monument’s construction, such as train jumping the track. ​“It must have been some blogger,” he observed.

Stony Creek was proud of its accomplishment. At 82 feet tall, tapered from the top to the base, the West Point Monument was the largest polished single column in the world.

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