This Earthcache will highlight the Babson Farm Quarry at Halibut Point State Park. Cape Ann, a rocky headland swept by wind and waves, is one of the most scenic areas in the state. Looking seaward from Halibut Point State Park, on a clear day, the view stretches from Crane Beach in Ipswich to Mount Agamenticus in Maine and the Isles of Shoals off the coast of New Hampshire.
Halibut Point itself is made of sheets 440 milion year-old Cape Ann granite that now decends from the rocky headland to the tidal pools below. As a result of the shallow soil, constant exposure to onshore winds, and a history of frequent fires, the vegetation includes few trees. Catbriar, bayberry, blueberry, arrowwood, shadbrush, and an assortment of wildflowers grow among the ledges. Each winter, many species of seabirds, including loons, grebes, ducks, and an occasional puffin, feed in the rich offshore waters.
The area was first used by groups of Pawtucket Indians who migrated seasonally to the coast to harvest its plentiful supply of wild fruits, fish, and game. With the arrival of the first settlers late in the 17th century, the shallow soil was used for farming and cattle grazing. Beginning in the 1840s, granite was quarried from this area, first on a small scale and primarily along the coast, and then on a much larger scale when the Rockport Granite Company aquired the Babson Farm quarry and expanded its operation.
Cape Ann granite is an alkalic granite - that is, rich in potassium and sodium - which suggests they originated from rifting, or extensional tectonics. Geologists call these rocks rift granites. The Cape Ann granite quarried here is similar in age, mineralogy, massive character, and beauty, both rough and polished, to the famous Quincy granite. Much like Quincy granite, Cape Ann granite is a favored architetural stone because of its consistency of texture, hardness, and strength. It has been used in such structures as Boston's Common House and the Longfellow Bridge over the Charles River, connecting Cambridge and Boston. Cape Ann paving stones decorate the streets of such cities as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and New Orleans.
Shortly after the collapse of the Cape Ann granite industry in 1929, 17 acres on the eastern side of the quarry were purchased and give to the Trustees of Reservations. The remainder of the area sat unused until late in World War II when a fire control tower (now the park's Visitors Center) was constructed to provide aiming information for the massive costal defense guns that guarded Boston and Portsmouth Harbors. Following the war, basic research conducted here by MIT's Lincoln Labs contributed to the development of radar. Halibut Point fell into private hands in 1956 and was operated as a private park for one season. After several attempts to develop the area as an exclusive residential community, local pressure led to the purchase of 56 acres by the state and the opening of Halibut Point State Park in 1981.
The park is open Labor Day to Memorial Day from sunrise to sunset and Memorial Day to Labor Day from 8AM to 8PM and charges a two dollar parking fee.
Start your journey at the parking area (posted coordinates) and head across the street to the trailhead. Follow the trail to the Visitors Center and pick up a park brochure. In the brochure you will find a 9 stop self-guided walking tour of the Babson Farm quarry. This brochure is also available here if they are not available at the visitors center. From here follow the self-guided tour around the quarry and collect the necessary information and photos. The trail is very easy and the round trip distance for this one will be about 1.25 miles. Keep an eye on children around the quarry and by the overlook and absolutely no quarry swimming.
Waypoints:
Trailhead - N 42 41.222 W 070 37.866
Visitors Center - N 42 41.333 W 070 37.945
Photo Location - N 42 41.504 W 070 37.944
To claim this as a find:
Post these pictures (1,2) with your log and the answer (3) in your log:
1. Post a photo of yourself and your GPS at your favorite spot with the quarry in the background. (This requirement is now optional)
2. Post a photo of yourself and your GPS at stop 7 (photo location coords) with the Atlantic Ocean in the background. (This requirement is now optional)
3. From stop 7 include hom many states you could see when you visited.
Email the answers to questions 4-13 to me:
4. What is the depth of the quarry at its deepest point?
5. How much does Cape Ann granite weigh per cubic foot?
6. During the quarry's busiest years, how many derricks were in use here?
7. What are dog holes?
8. What is the orange/brown granite called and why is it that color?
9. What is a motion?
10. How was granite split in the early days of the granite industry on Cape Ann?
11. What is a grout pile?
12. What does the drill hole in the block at stop 8 tell you about how it was made?
13. What were granite bollards used for?
Send the e-mail posts the photos within a few days of your log.
Failure to comply with these requirements will result in log deletion.
Good luck and good caching.
- Rev Mike
