The First Granite Quarry

The First Granite Quarry. . , In the spring of 1868 the firm of Breen and Young opened the first commercial granite quarry in Minnesota on the site of what is now the St. Cloud Reformatory. Their first order was for stone for the corners, steps, and trimmings of the U.S. Custom House and Post Office in St. Paul. , Nearly as old as the earth itself, granite is one of the strongest, most durable stones on the planet. In Minnesota substantial outcroppings of granite lie along the upper Minnesota River valley near Ortonville and Redwood Falls. It is also found in the St. Cloud area of eastern Stearns County and adjacent parts of Benton and Sherburne counties. , In the mid-1800s most of the commercial granite in the U.S. came from New Hampshire and other rocky areas of the East. The market for granite was relatively small in the sparsely settled Midwest, and transportation costs made it difficult for Minnesota companies to compete for work in faraway eastern cities. Many quarries failed, but others survived as new uses for granite were developed. Prosperity came to the St. Cloud-area quarries in the 1890s when monument work began to replace paving, bridge, and foundation blocks as their principal product. , The “busy, gritty, granite city,” as St. Cloud came to call itself, continues to be a major supplier of granite. Prized now more for its beauty than its strength, granite quarried near here graces such state landmarks as the Capitol and the History Center in St. Paul.