024. Buried in the Granite Capital of the World

Vermont. Granite. A cemetery? Where are we?

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the New England on a Pedestal podcast with me, Doug Farquharson.  We explore the stories of New England through the lens of its many and varied statues, sculptures, memorials, and monuments. How do we do that? Well, it depends on the particular subject of each episode. Sometimes, like episode 23, we dedicate the whole episode to a single statue and story. Other times like way back in episode 1, we discuss multiple statues that all share something in common. In that case, we looked at statues along the Boston Marathon’s route. In this episode, we are going to concentrate on one particular place and see what we find and why it’s of interest to us. Hopefully, you’ll find it interesting as well!

We will be visiting the Green State in episode 24. Vermont deserves some love from New England on a Pedestal after all. Other than the Whale Tails mentioned briefly back in episode 8, I don’t think we’ve talked about Vermont at all. Sorry, Vermonters! My bad! So, if you know of any interesting statues or sculptures up there, please get in touch and let us know about them! 

Needless to say, we here at New England on a Pedestal love granite. Many of the statues we discuss are set upon granite pedestals and bases. Some the actual statues and sculptures themselves are carved from granite. And of course, some of the most beautiful granite in the world can be found right here in New England. That’s what takes us to Barre, Vermont. Located in the upper, central part of the state, it is near the capital of Montpelier in Washington County. Back in the late nineteenth century, Barre was home to a booming granite industry. That lead to its nickname of The Granite Capital of the World and workers and artisans flocked to the area to work with the stone. I’ve seen it estimated that one third of all memorials across the United States come from Barre, Vt. Many stonecutters travelled from Italy and other far-off lands. The work was not without its hazards though and there was a high death rate from things like silicosis, a respiratory disease caused by inhaling silica and granite dust. Later, the Spanish Flu was raced through the population with deadly results. In 1895, the city of Barre purchased some farmland and began construction of a cemetery. Landscape architect Edward P. Adams was asked to design a cemetery that was aesthetically pleasing and inviting as well as a place of peace and hope. A common train of thought at the time was to make cemeteries like parks where people would want to come to relax and enjoy the quiet and solitude while viewing artistic monuments. Hope Cemetery now encompasses some 65 acres with over ten thousand grave stones, all of which are cut and carved from local Barre Grey Granite.

Okay, so we know we are here because there’s lots of granite and we like granite. We may even love granite. But, is that enough of a reason to dedicate a whole episode to Hope Cemetery? Honestly, probably not. We’re all about the statues and sculptures. Well, they got that covered here too. So much so that tour busses, especially in the Fall when New England trees are displaying all their beautiful colors, often drive through here to view the artistic treasure of the unique headstones within the cemetery, earning it the nicknames of The Museum of Granite Sculpture and the Gallery of Granite Artistry.

Many of the people buried here worked in or around the granite industry and they wanted their final resting place to be representative of their personality. That was true back in the late 1800s and early 1900s and it continues to be true today. You can find everything from the classical to the whimsical here. For example, there is a not to scale copy of Michaelangelo’s Pieta. There are intricately carved headstones with angels and saints and other heavenly beings. Symbols of fraternal organizations like the Elks or the Masons. There are life like carvings of the deceased, often representing what they did in life whether as work or as a hobby. There are more recent and modern ones that carry on this tradition such as a large soccer ball atop a child’s headstone, a biplane winging through clouds for a pilot’s gravestone, and the detailed etching depicting a well drillers worksite. There’s one that resembles a bedroom scene from a 1960s TV sitcom where husband and wife could only be shown in two separate twin beds. There’s one for someone who obviously was a huge fan of M&Ms and the talking candy characters from their ads. Another looks like a superhero’s badge or emblem. A racecar sits atop another plot. A large granite living room chair adorns another. So realistic that you’d expect to see a tv remote on one arm. There are classic busts and modern etched family photos. There are columns and obelisks. There’s a delicately balanced polished cube. Everywhere you look there is something interesting that catches the eye. Hope Cemetery in Barre VT. A place that celebrates the local history, is an outdoor sculpture garden, and memorial to the many people who made Barre the Granite Capital of the World.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode and found it interesting. If so, I have a favor to ask of you. Please help spread the word! We are just one little podcast in a vast ocean of others. It’s tough to build an audience and reach more listeners when it seems every celebrity and sports star has one too with their big time name recognition and advertising power. You can help by subscribing to New England on a Pedestal wherever you listen to us. We are on all the major and lots of the not so major platforms. Leave a comment. Post a review. Follow us on Instagram. Like our Facebook page. Share the podcast with family and friends. Link to us on your social media. Every little bit helps and I really appreciate it!

Do you know of an interesting or unusual statue, sculpture, monument, or memorial near you? Are you or do you know a local sculptor? Please, get in touch with us through social media or email us at  newenglandonapedestal@farqie.com. Perhaps you have additional information or maybe a correction about something we shared in previous episodes, send it our way and we can make the correction in a later episode. Let us know what you think. What are we doing right? What can we do better? Our email is newenglandonapedestal@farqie.com. That’s New England on a Pedestal all one word at F A R Q I E dot com.

None of this would be possible without the talent and help of several family members and friends. As always I want to thank Jason, Jake, Sam, and Bekka. And a special shout out to my wife Gail for her encouragement and patience with me. And of course, thank you, the listener for tuning in!

Join us next episode when we venture to another New England town and dig into some more local history. Until next time, be safe, be well, be kind and keep discovering. Thanks for listening!