Vermont Granite Museum facts for kids
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| Location | 7 Jones Bros Way Barre, Vermont |
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| Type | Granite industry museum |
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Jones Brothers Granite Shed
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 Location in Vermont
Location in the United States
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| Location | 7 Jones Bros Way, Barre, Vermont |
| Area | 14 acres (5.7 ha) |
| Built | 1895 |
| Architectural style | Straight Granite Shed |
| NRHP reference No. | 02000413 |
| Added to NRHP | April 26, 2002 |
The Vermont Granite Museum is a cool place in Barre, Vermont. It teaches you all about granite, a strong type of stone. Barre is famous for its granite industry. The museum shows how granite was dug up (quarried) and shaped.
You can find the museum at 7 Jones Brothers Way. It's inside an old building called the Jones Brothers Granite Shed. This shed used to be a busy place where granite was worked on. It's so important that it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The museum also runs the Stone Arts School. Here, people who want to become sculptors can learn how to work with stone.
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What You Can Do at the Museum
The museum's main goal is to keep the history of Vermont's granite industry alive. This industry was very important for Barre's economy, especially since the late 1800s.
You can visit the museum for tours between June and October. You can also arrange special visits at other times. There is a small fee to get in.
Learn to Work with Stone
The museum also has the Stone Arts School. This school offers special workshops. In these workshops, artists can learn old and new ways to shape granite. It's a great chance to see how sculptures are made from stone.
The Museum Building's History
The museum is located just northwest of downtown Barre. It sits between North Main Street (United States Route 302) and the Stevens Branch of the Winooski River.
The building itself, the Jones Brothers Granite Shed, was built in 1895. It was one of the first "straight sheds." Before this, most sheds were shaped like a horseshoe. In this shed, large blocks of granite were turned into finished products. Many of these became grave markers for cemeteries.
The Jones Brothers company started in 1870. It was the oldest granite business still working in Vermont when it closed in 1975. The shed is the main building left from what was once a much larger group of buildings. The museum bought the shed in 1997 to use it for the museum.
See Also
