Quincy Quarries Reservation

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The Quincy Quarries was the home of the first railroad in the United States, as well as the stone for construction of the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. It is now often called "The Quarries" or "Quincy Quarries"

[edit] History

In 1825, after an exhaustive search throughout New England, Solomon Willard selected the Quincy site as the source of stone for the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. After many delays and much obstruction, the railway itself was granted a charter on March 4, 1826, The railroad was designed and built by railway pioneer Gridley Bryant and began operations on October 7, 1826.

The granite from these quarries became famous throughout the nation, and stonecutting quickly became the principal economic activity of Quincy, Massachusetts.

The last active quarry closed in 1963; After their abandonment in the 1960's the open quarries filled with rainwater and ground water. Shortly thereafter it was discovered to be an ideal place to cliffjump. However, many people had been injured -- and killed -- while diving into the abandoned quarries from great heights. This lead the police and the town of Quincy to grapple with what to do with this abandoned space. It was also during this time that rockclimbing was discovered here.

In 1971, "A Guide to Quincy Quarries" by Willie Cowther and Tony Thompson was published by the MIT Outing Club (MITOC). It mainly contained information about climbing in and around the oven.

During the 1980's old phone poles and trees were added to discourage cliffjumping. Unfortunately, these were quickly waterlogged and sank two feet underwater where they were not visible to the cliffjumpers above. The injury and fatality rate skyrocketed. Often when they sent divers down to look for someone who died they would find something or someone else that had died.

In 1985, Boston's Metropolitan District Commission purchased 22 acres, including Granite Railway Quarry, as the Quincy Quarries Reservation.

A solution to the public safety problem was finally found with the massive Big Dig highway project in Boston. The dirt from all the tunnels was trucked in and filled the main quarries.

This opened up a whole new section of rock to climb.