Granite carving at Vinalhaven, Maine.

Granite carving at Vinalhaven, Maine.

Granite carving at Vinalhaven, Maine. View of extensive carving yard, with many large structural pieces nearing completion. Workers are using both hand and air powered tools. Large rail mounted steam derrick in background. A post-Civil War boom set the granite industry in Maine afire; small towns such as Vinalhaven expanded rapidly, as the demand for this durable building material mushroomed, and the concomitant demand for granite quarrymen encouraged immigrants from Sweden, Finland, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, and Italy to come to work as stonecutters. In this scene, carvers perform finish work on several pieces for the U.S. Customs House in NYC, an impressive edifice which was completed in 1907. At left in the background, men are seen cleaning up the capitals for its 3-story columns, while the image of Mercury, the Greek god of commerce, looks on from each one. At right in the foreground, two carvers work out the details of the lintels for the building's fourth-story windows.