LB2016.15.910

LB2016.15.910

View of a schooner loading granite at Crotch Island, Stonington, Maine. Granite quarrying began on Crotch Island in the early 1870s and, by the turn of the century, about 250 workers lived on the island, The island had two boardinghouses, a store and a school, though no one lives there today. The town of Stonington took its name in 1897 from the quarries on Crotch Island and 10 or 15 other islands in that area of Penobscot Bay, Granite from Crotch Island and the islands of Vinalhaven, Hurricane, Swan’s, Dix and High was used in such well-known buildings as Rockefeller Center, Chicago’s Board of Trade, the Pennsylvania Railroad Station in Philadelphia, the Boston Museum of Fine Art and the New York Stock Exchange. Crotch Island is located in the Gulf of Maine just south of Stonington. The island is known for its granite quarries which contain an attractive architectural texture known as rapakivi. Rapakivi is a Finnish word meaning "rotten." The original namesake rock in Finland was deeply weathered and was unsuitable for architectural needs. Legend holds that during a time when political tensions between Finland and Russia were high, Finnish officials had a statue of Czar Nicholas carved from rapakivi granite and shipped it to Moscow. The gesture was regarded as a "peace feeler" and the statue was emplaced in a prominent place in Moscow. After one winter's exposure, the statue began to crumble and the gesture was seen for having a different purpose and war nearly erupted as a result. The Maine rapakivi granite is unweathered and would have insured that peace would prevail. "235"