Virgil Mead cutting bluestone
A former Halcottsville quarryman will explain the tools and techniques of traditional stone cutters at a field history program , “No Stone Left Unturned,” Saturday, Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. at a Margaretville area quarry.
Registration is required as space is limited. Call 845-586-2400 to reserve your spot. The exact location and other information will be provided to registrants. A $10 fee will be collected at the site the day of the program. Rain date is October 18. A representative from the Catskill Forest Association will also be present to discuss forest cover and trees typically found at quarry sites.
John Biruk, a 1961 graduate of Roxbury Central School, will lead a short walk to a quarry said to have provided the material for Margaretville’s curbs and sidewalks more than a century ago. Biruk grew up on a Bragg Hollow farm. “When I was 19 or 20, I realized I could make money from stone,” he recalled. “I made my living for 15 years at a New Kingston Mountain quarry.”
Biruk will bring some tools of the trade, show how to spot a productive bluestone ledge, and explain how the layers are separated and extracted. He’ll also tell how stone is transported from remote hillside quarries and how it is bought and sold.