I went hunting and hiking for history today and found a very fun place to explore. I hiked the Becket Quarry and Forest Preserve in Becket, MA. There is much to see and some good hiking in this historic town open space. After a short hike in along the access trail I came to the first of many grout piles (these are large piles of granite that are the leavings of the quarrying of granite). I made the climb up to the top of this pile and was rewarded with a wonderful view to the North and East.
I also found the first of the abandoned machinery. At the top of the huge pile were railroad tracks and a winch and cable system from the days when the quarry was operating. From there I followed a path and came upon the quarry itself. A large hole in the earth filled with water. There were cables running everywhere and blocks of granite strewn about as well. It was very interesting to see. I then made my way around the quarry and found more machinery winches, an abandoned old truck and a large tank that I believe was for compressed air. There was a second truck and the remains of a building as well. All very cool to look at and explore. There are signs posted on granite pillars along the route that explain what you are looking at and what it was used for. One of the trucks was a mobile air compressor and was used to power the drills used to drill into the granite for explosives. There was also the remains of large derricks with booms and masts that were used to haul the granite to rail cars where it would be taken to be polished and sold. The forest has retaken the area and hides much of the landscape but if you look closely you can find things that are not listed on the tablets. I found the remains of a small building, just granite foundation and a few bricks left. There are pipes running throughout the woods as well, maybe for the compressed air?
After exploring the quarry for a while I then turned to hiking. There are a number of marked trails in the forest and I decided to follow a few and see the vista listed on the map. The trails are well marked and wander through the hardwood forest around the quarry. I was soon at the vista that looked Northeast and sat for a bit and had some water.
Then I continued on that loop and worked my way back toward the quarry and to the car. The elevation of the vista was about 1750ft. The forest is close to the Mass Pike and the highway was loud on top of the hill. As I worked my way back though the sound of the cars and trucks faded. I did not follow the same way back as I head come though and found more quarry equipment and an abandoned garage. I wonder what they stored in the garage. There was some kind of tunnel going into the side of the hill that I did not explore today, maybe in the future.
After seeing some more old iron I made my way back to the car. It was a nice 2.8 mile hike with some pretty cool historical finds. I will be back to explore the quarry and hike more of the trails in the forest. I’m sure there is more to discover. Here is a link to the website Becket Quarry
