Portland Brownstone Quarries - Portland CT - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The Portland Brownstone Quarries are located on the east bank of the Connecticut River at the western edge of the town of Portland and across the river from Middletown, Connecticut. Vertical reddish-brown sandstone cliffs surround deep, tranquil lakes in the Portland Brownstone Quarries today. This mimics their appearance at times in the past once the quarries were excavated below the level of the adjacent river, as observed by Rice and Foye in 1927: "When the quarries are not being worked, and the pumps are inactive, the floors of the quarries are occupied by extensive lakes." The quarries last became flooded in 1938 when a hurricane raised the river level, and they have remained so since then. Before quarrying began, low sandstone cliffs flanked the eastern bank of the river here. Quarrying removed the tops of these cliffs and built a "foreshore" of waste rock out into the river, which still remains. 1 There are two main Portland Brownstone Quarries, which incorporate all of the early, smaller pits. The larger, northern quarry is separated from the smaller, southern quarry by Silver Street. Natural joints used by quarrymen to divide the brownstone into large blocks are visible in the quarry walls, as are numerous geological features of research and educational value. The squared-off "peninsulas" at the top of the quarry walls show the former location of derricks used
to hoist stone out of the quarries. The Portland Brownstone Quarries can be accessed via motor vehicle along Brownstone Avenue,
at the western edge of the quarries, where there is an unpaved parking pull-off. A wall of large brownstone blocks apparently constructed during the Depression ("W.P.A. 1938" is carved into
one of the blocks) separates the quarries from Brownstone Avenue.

Source: NPS Focus database

Street address: Brownstone Ave., and Silver St., Portland , CT County / Borough / Parish: Middlesex Year listed: 2000 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Science, Architecture Periods of significance: 1689-1938 Historic function: INDUSTRY/PROCESSING/EXTRACTION Current function: LANDSCAPE Privately owned?: no Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   05/22/2010 nomadwillie visited it