Soldiers and Sailors Monument EarthCache

This is an Earthcache – as such, there is no physical cache. Instead after examining the Granite Memorial at the posted coordinates, you will answer 5 questions and message me the answers. This memorial is located in Penn Park and the park grounds are open daily from 6am - 10pm Daily. Permission was given for this earthcache placement by the York City Superintendent of Parks.

Sculptor Edward Gallagher was contracted to erect this monument. It was designed to be the tallest monument in the state, and stand over 70 feet in height. J.M.Jones of the Jones Company in Barre sold the granite for $23550. for The Barre granite would be delivered from Vermont rough, and all arrive by one train consisting of 37 cars containing 20 tons of granite each.

The Soldiers and Sailors Monument was complete in 1898, and was dedicated on Flag Day. When it was completed it only reached a height of 50 feet.

The Vermont Gray Granite supplied for this memorial was purchased from the Jones Brothers Company in Barre. Located just 5 miles southeast of Vermont’s state capital Montpelier, Barre is known as being the “Granite Capital of the world.” The gray granite in Barre is about 380 million years old making it Devonian in age. It is a medium to coarse grained, light-colored, intrusive igneous rock that is composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica(biotite). Technically granite from Barre is not a true granite, but a granodiorite, meaning it has a finer grain structure than that of a true granite.

The Jones brothers acquired the Millstone Quarry around 1890. That quarry is located 3 miles southeast of Barre on Millstone Hill, which is a huge granite mass that rises up to 1,719 feet. In 1891 the Jones Brothers introduced a pneumatic tool that revolutionized the granite cutting process. A shift from all handwork to machines began with the introduction of pneumatic tools, which varied in size from small hand tools to large surfacing machines. Prior to this granite was primarily hand cut and polished with only the help of horses and a few small machines.

At the Millstone Quarry the Jones Brothers could quarry both dark and the light granite. The lighter granite formation is near the top of Millstone Hill on its south and southwest sides. The various shades and color designations of this granite are due in part to the different degree of kaolinization and mica in its orthoclase feldspar. Kaolinization refers to the alteration of alkali feldspar into the clay mineral kaolinite in the presence of slightly acidic solutions. This causes the color to range from a milk-white to a translucent bluish gray.

During most of the 1900’s the Jones Brothers plant employed more than 600 people and occupied 100,000 square feet on operational space. This plant closed in 1975, and in 1997 became the site of the Vermont Granite Museum.

LOGGING REQUIREMENTS:

To log this Earthcache: Read the geology lesson above. Answer all five questions posted below. Answers can be sent via e-mail or messenger contacts on my Geocaching profile within a reasonable time. Group answers are fine, but do not post the answers to the questions in your logs.

QUESTION 1.From the reading, what word refers to the alteration of alkali feldspar into the clay mineral kaolinite in the presence of slightly acidic solutions?

QUESTION 2. Using the chart on the classification chart on the cache page, what does Granodiorite have much more of than granite? (CHOOSE ONE)
A) Quartz
B) Potassium Feldspar
C) Sodium-Rich Plagioclases Feldspars
D) Biotite
E) Amphibole

QUESTION 3. The Millstone Quarry produced both dark and light granite. What indication do you see here that both colors where used here?

QUESTION 4. Examine the memorial. Does the granite show any signs of weathering or cracking?

QUESTION 5. Look closely at the stone. Do you think that this gray stone is also a granodiorite from Vermont? Why or why not?

OPTIONAL PHOTO: Posting a photo that readily indicates that you (and anyone else logging the find) are at the location.

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REFERENCES:
1. Tallest Monument, The Semi Weekly Gazette, No. 920, July 24, 1897, pg 2, newspapers.com