04/25/2023
From Friends of the Quarry webpage:
Discovery of mahogany-red granite in the hamlet known then as Sand Prairie in the 1880's sparked a mining boom. Granite paving blocks where cut by hand with exact precision and then interlocked perfectly and used in streets as far away as Chicago.
William Bannerman, a Scottish immigrant, first found a red granite formation near Berlin, WI and operated two quarries there for a time. In 1898 he purchased a 126-acre farm in Sand Prairie (village of Redgranite today) to harvest the granite. This granite was exceptionally hard and allowed the quarry to be worked even in the winter.
At the end of one day's digging work, a natural spring was struck. The next day the quarry was so full of water that its use as a quarry was over. It became a natural swimming hole and tourist attraction. The quarry was closed in the 1920s. By then, concrete and asphalt came into popular use for paving.
Today, Redgranite Quarry is a 6-acre lake. It has depths reaching over 100 feet. Fish include Panfish and Largemouth Bass. The quarry was designated a village park in 1995. Park hours are from 7:00am-7:00pm.
Photo from: Postcrescent.com
FriendsoftheQuarry.org
