None of us was around hundreds of millions of years ago, but Stony Creek Quarry’s pink granite was. Some think this molten concoction got pushed into this region of Branford, Connecticut from South Africa. Imagine that?
These 55 acres owned by the town of Branford and leased this time around for the next several decades by some folks in state, is one of just two quarries in Connecticut that are “dimensional quarries” that can cut huge 25 ton pieces of rock to be used at the bases of monuments and such. For instance you can find Stony Creek “pink” granite at the base of the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Tiffany & Co., The Brooklyn Bridge, Grand Central and Penn Stations in New York City.
In the nation’s capitol in Washington D.C., you will see it at the Smithsonian Institute and the War College. In Connecticut you will find it at the Peabody Museum, Hartford’s Bulkeley Bridge and Yale and Quinnipiac Universities. Of course you will also see this in counter tops in kitchens and bathrooms around the world too.
In the photos, you’ll see some variations in the stone, streaks of black. While some would call that a flaw and not use it in a sculpture or in a counter top, I would use some of those grains as an interesting talking points about how the different types of materials formed the rock found near Long island Sound.
Those mining the quarry go down as far as sea level and it’s estimated that there might be another 200 years of work here. The water that you see in the video below is merely rain water and it gets pumped out. I of course suggested that a real cool commercial for this place would be to put a synchronized swim team in there and have them do a routine to music. Can you say viral You Tube moment? That’s just how my brain works, always outside of the box.
My tour guide in the quarry was Darrell Petit, a Canadian, who is a sculptor. Darrell first came to the quarry thirteen years ago because he wanted to get closer to the medium he was using and find out all about it. Well he did, and does and now is promoting this pink granite wherever he can aside from what he does.
So you will see a tour in the video and you will also see an octogenarian, an old school sculptor making a rock water fountain. To do that, you have to melt the stone. So a torch is fired up to more than 3,000 degrees and the work begins, I found that fascinating.
Enjoy the videos.