Barre Granite Welcome to the Vermont Granite Museum and Stone Arts School website. Our museum and school is under development. What that means is that we are working hard to complete the construction of the museum while also hosting guests, designing exhibits, and planning teaching workshops. We do not yet have regular hours of operation, but I am happy to give tours of the building and our exhibits by appointment. We especially welcome the opportunity to host group visits or rent our facility for special events and conferences. Barre is called the “Granite Center of the World”, internationally recognized for high-quality stone, manufacturing, and artistry. Barre Gray granite, used for products since the late 1700s, was found to be ideal for monumental work due to its even coloring, fine grain, and lack of impurities. The texture and quality of granite is unmatched for rendering fine carved details which can not be attained with other granites. In the 1800s immigrants flocked to Barre for the opportunity to work in our booming granite manufacturing industry. Today, Barre continues to quarry, process and wholesale granite. Manufacturer’s have diversified and adapted to changing global markets and demands. In addiiton to the production of granite memorials, our manufacturers also make counter tops, landscape furniture, architectural details, steps curbing and granite for precision testing calibration, while still offering a wealth of stone carvers and artists who create relief and full sculpture as well as etched designs for a variety of artistic and architectural purposes. The VGM/SAS has set out to create a stimulating and interactive enviroment for learning about granite, Barre’s impact on national immigrantion, geology, technology, and artistry. We are housed in the historic Jones Brothers Manufacturing Company in Barre. The Jones Brothers operation was at one the largest manufacturers in North America in the mid-20th centery, with over 100,000 sf of manufacturing space. We have preserved 25,000 sf of the original facility. We hold weekend workshops on stone lettering and carving in our Stone Arts School The Rock of Ages Legacy Granite is among the oldest rock on earth. Hidden deep beneath the ground's surface, granite reveals itself only after the softer, upper layers of dirt and rock have worn away, allowing its strength and power to be unveiled. Granite is a rock of the ages - a rock that has withstood the test of time. Founded in 1885 in Vermont, Rock of Ages owns and manages quarries in several states and countries. These quarries produce the highest combined volume of dimensional granite in North America. Rock of Ages has set the standard in stone worldwide. No matter the project, we offer legendary quality, block size and fast delivery right from our own quarries. No one is more experienced at providing the highest quality granites and versatile service than Rock of Ages. And, no one stands behind its products and materials like Rock of Ages. Granite is forever. Thunder Road In 1979, famed television and radio journalist Ken Squier and business partner Tom Curley formed the NASCAR North Tour for Late Model Sportsman-type cars. Stars of the day included New England drivers Beaver and Bobby Dragon, Dave Dion, and Dick McCabe; Canada’s Jean-Paul Cabana and Claude Leclerc; and invaders Robbie Crouch of Tampa, FL and Chuck Bown of Portland, OR. With sponsorship from companies like Coors, Molson, Skoal, STP, Valvoline, and General Motors, the NASCAR North Tour visited the short track showplaces of the northeastern U.S. and Canada: Thunder Road in Vermont, Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine, Stafford Springs and Thompson, CT, Sanair Super Speedway near Montreal, Cayuga Speedway in Ontario, and Dover Downs Int’l Speedway in Dover, DE. Southern stars Butch Lindley, Bill Dennis, Harry Gant, Tommy Ellis, Gene Glover, L.D. Ottinger, and Bosco Lowe were frequent visitors to NASCAR North Tour events, along with national icons Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker, and Dale Earnhardt. As a means of transitioning toward a more modern type of race car, Curley formed the independent American-Canadian Tour in 1986, making a total changeover from the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman to the Super Late Model and Pro Stock cars used throughout the country. In 1987, once the change was complete, Curley’s ACT aligned with Rex Robbins’ American Speed Association (ASA) of the Midwest and Bob Harmon’s All-Pro Series of the southeast, forming the Stock Car Connection. The SCC visited high-profile tracks in Cincinnati, OH; Milwaukee, WI; Nazareth, PA; and Nashville, TN; and saw visitors that included Darrell Waltrip, Mark Martin, Bobby and Davey Allison, and Rusty and Kenny Wallace, along with short track legends Dick Trickle, Butch Miller, Mike Eddy, Bob Senneker, Steve Grissom, and Bobby Gill. With General Motors stepping up its commitment to ACT in 1989, the GM Motorsport National Stock Car Series was f