Part I. 



INTRODUCTORY. 

 A.— HISTORICAL AND GENERAL. 



The use of any kind of stone for building purposes in tbe United 

 States, or indeed in America, of necessity dates from a comparatively 

 recent period. The early settlers were too poor and too thoroughly oc- 

 cupied in the struggle for existence to give a thought to other con- 

 structive material than wood, and hence it is not surprising that over 

 one hundred years elapsed from the time of the landing of the pilgrims 

 at Plymouth before the first stone structure of importance was erected. 

 As, however, wealth increased, towns became cities, and matters assumed 

 a more permanent aspect, there naturally arose a demand for a more 

 durable and highly ornamental material ; for such, fortunately, the 

 early settlers of eastern Massachusetts had not far to look. The first 

 stones quarried in this State are thought by Professor Shaler to have 

 been the clayslates in the vicinity of Boston. These, however, were 

 worked only in a small way and the product used for grave- and mile- 

 stones, and a few lintels. 



Granite came into early use for building purposes, probably more on 

 account of its ready accessibility than from any desire on the part of the 

 people for so refractory a material, the matter of transportation then, as 

 now, being an important item in deciding what material was to be used. 



According to Shurtleff * one of the first stone buildings in Boston 

 was the house of Deacon John Phillips, which was erected about 1650 ? 

 and which continued to stand until 1864. It is supposed to have been 

 built from granite bowlders found in the immediate vicinity. In 1 737 

 was built of bowlders of Braintree granite the old Hancock house, since 

 torn down, and in 1749-'54 King's chapel, which is still standing on the 

 corner of School and Tremont streets. This last was at the time the 

 greatest stone construction ever undertaken in Boston, if not in this 

 country. Like those already mentioned, it was built from bowlders, 

 and considering the method of cutting employed (to be noticed later), 

 was indeed a remarkable structure. The granite bowlders scattered 

 over the commons had been very generally used in Quincy and vicinity 



*" History of Boston, p. 589. 



