Quincy’s granite industry was famous the world over, with many of America’s most prominent statues and monuments sculpted from granite quarried here. In fact, the first commercial railroad in America was founded in Quincy in 1826 to transport Quincy granite to Charlestown for the construction of the Bunker Hill Monument. Quincy’s granite industry also played a role in the city’s population growth, as immigrants from Finland, Sweden, Italy and other countries settled here to work in the quarries. So prolific was the Quincy granite industry that at one point there were nearly two dozen granite quarries operating in the city. Following World War II, new, cheaper building materials led to a decline in the granite industry, with the last quarry closing in the 1960s. Yet the artistry and craftsmanship of those early stonecutters who made the term “Quincy Granite” synonymous with superior quality can still be seen in such monuments as Bunker Hill and the Titanic Memorial.
Today, visitors can see portions of the original 1826 granite railway, view many buildings and monuments constructed of granite, and the quarries themselves are popular with hikers and rock climbers. Several of the former quarries have also been filled and reshaped into the new Granite Links Golf Club.