Sights in Montpelier & Barre
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Rock of Ages Quarries
The world’s largest granite quarries, 4 miles southeast of Barre off I-89 exit 6, cover 50 acres. The granite vein that’s mined here is a whopping 6 miles long, 4 miles wide and 10 miles deep. The beautiful, durable, granular stone, formed more than 330 million years ago, is used for tombstones, building facades, monuments, curbstones and tabletops. From the onsite Rock of Ages Visitor Center there's a quarry tour which includes a short video and historical exhibits. This 35-minute guided minibus tour of an active quarry heads off-site. At the onsite Rock of Ages Manufacturing Division, you can watch granite products being made – some with an accuracy that approaches …
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Covered Bridges
Vermont is rife with these classic beauties, but you generally don't get two (and almost three) for the price of one. From Montpelier, take VT 12 southwest to Northfield Falls to the intersection of Cox Brook Rd, where two covered bridges straddle a river within walking distance of each other. Station Bridge and Newell Bridge both span a section of the river that's about 100ft across.
Upper Bridge is a bit further up Cox Brook Rd. Fittingly, a general store marks the intersection where these timeless icons remain as sentinels.
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Hope Cemetery
Where do old granite carvers go when they die? In Barre, they end up in Hope Cemetery. To granite carvers, tombstones aren't dreary reminders of mortality but artful celebrations of the carver's life. And what celebrations! A carver and his wife sit up in bed holding hands, smiling for eternity; a granite cube balances precariously on one corner. Other gravestones reproduce the deceased's favorite soccer ball or even a small airplane. If a cemetery can ever be amusing, this one is. It's open to the living all the time.
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TW Wood Art Gallery
This gallery, at E State St on the Vermont College campus, was founded in 1895 by Thomas Waterman Wood (1823–1903), a native of Montpelier, who gained a regional reputation for his portraits and genre paintings. The museum has a large collection of Wood’s art as well as Depression-era paintings. Changing exhibits, especially of arts created in Vermont, fill the main gallery.
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Rock of Ages Visitor Center
Visit the onsite Rock of Ages Visitor Center. The quarry tour includes a short video and historical exhibits. This 35-minute guided minibus tour of an active quarry heads off-site. At the onsite Rock of Ages Manufacturing Division, you can watch granite products being made – some with an accuracy that approaches 25-millionths of an inch.
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State House
America's smallest capital, Montpelier is a thoroughly likable town full of period buildings and backed by verdant hills. It speaks to its village nature that you can walk in the front door of the gold-domed State House, built c 1836, and exit out the back onto a forested trail. Tours run on the half hour.
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Vermont Historical Society
Next door to the State House, the Pavilion Building houses an excellent museum that recounts Vermont’s history with exhibits, films and re-creations of taverns and Native American settlements.
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Rock of Ages Manufacturing Division
At the onsite Rock of Ages Manufacturing Division, you can watch granite products being made – some with an accuracy that approaches 25-millionths of an inch.
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