These quarries produced granite, ironstone and slate. The major quarry, the one closest to the posted cords was one of the first to be used by the Royal Engineers. Because the first quarry was established very close to the sea there was little difficulty getting granite aboard the barges for delivery to it's destination.
However more granite was needed, and a second quarry was established at a much higher elevation on the granite outcropping, so a railway was constructed(first in Nova Scotia)to haul stone from both quarries to the barges at the wharf site. In the past there had been a military wharf built of stone near the quarries , after the railroad was put in use the wharf was modified and strenghtened so the trolley wagons could transfer the large cut stones to ocean barges, to haul to building sites.
In 1910, over 3500 t (approx. 4,000 tons) of granite were extracted from granite quarries around Purcells Cove - one of five former granite production sites in the Halifax area. Nova Scotia building stone is of excellent quality and durability; its high standard is comparable with that of European stone which has been imported for decorative use on Halifax buildings constructed in the last two or three decades.
In order to claim this Earthcache please post a picture of you and/or your GPS at one of the buildings that was built by the purcells cove quarries background. Also, e-mail me the answers to the following three questions:
1. Name at least three buildings that were constructed using stone from the purcells cove quarries.
2.What year was the railroad constructed?(on the sign in purcells cove)
3.What is the height of the quarry from the road to the top of the ledge?
You do not need to wait for confirmiation from me before posting online. However, any logs that do not fulfill ALL requirements will be deleted.