Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey

Bunker Hill Lane (Granite Railway)

A dirt path, commencing at the north end of Bunker Hill Lane, leads to the railway and the defunct Bunker Hill Quarry. The railway begins at the base of the quarry and runs in a northeast direction for 250'. The line, constructed in 1826, was laid on a road bed l' - 4' deep to eliminate damage from frost. The bed was filled with stone and the rail structure was constructed in the following manner:
stone sleepers were laid across the track eight feet apart. Upon these wooden rails, six inches thick and twelve inches high, were placed. Upon the top of these rails, iron plates, three inches wide and one-fourth of an inch thick, were fastened with spikes; but at all the crossings of public roads and driftways stone rails were used instead of wood. On top of these were placed iron plates four inches wide and half an inch thick, being firmly bolted to the stone.

When the wooden rails began to decay, they were replaced with stone and later iron. There are no rails left today. The granite sleepers were cut to a size 7' long, 8"- 14" across the top, and 12" - 18" deep. Each sleeper had a round, hand-drilled and centered hole about l 1/2" in diameter and 12" from each end of the sleeper. The holes were used to fasten the rails to the sleepers.

Today, the granite sleepers are the most prominent part of the railway. Beginning at the base of the quarry, on the south side of the dirt path, is located perhaps the first sleeper and the beginning of the railway. Crossing the path a distance of 20' one does not find any sleepers at the described eight foot intervals but rather fragments of granite. East of the path, in a direct northeast line, are located a progression of sleepers as detailed in the above description. The road bed is an embankment, 4' deep and 5' - 6' wide, with the sleepers laid across the embankment walls. The drill holes are still visible, although grass has grown over some of the sleepers.

After a distance of 250', the railway ends in a pile of rough stone which was used to form the base of the railway bed. An area 60' wide from each embankment is included in this submission to preserve the setting of the road.

1. Charles B. Stuart, C. E. Lives and Works of Civil and Military Engineers of America. New York: D. Van Norstrand, 1871, pp. 123-24.
2. Additional excavation would be necessary to determine otherwise.
Recent investigations indicate that this is the first sleeper and the beginning of the railway.

HISTORICAL SIGNFICANCE
In a sense, the Battle of Bunker Hill is responsible for the first commercial railway in the United States. In 1823, the Bunker Hill Memorial Association was formed and the patriotic zeal of its organizers brought together engineers, architects and financiers to commemorate the historic battle. Once a suitable design for the monument, an obelisk, was decided upon, its architect and master builder, Solomon Willard, located a quarry of granite in West Quincy to supply the construction material. The next problem was how to transport the granite to the monument site, a distance of twelve miles.

Gridley Bryant, a thirty-six year old engineer, proposed a railway from the quarry to the Neponset River, where barges could then transport the granite to the monument site. The idea was considered quixotic. Nevertheless, Thomas Hanasyd Perkins, the merchant prince of Boston, provided the financial backing for Bryant's scheme and the Massachusetts General Court, amid the cries of "what do we know about railroads", approved the petition for incorporation.

On October 7, 1826, a horse drawn railway car traversed the three mile distance to the Neponset River. At a time when canals were considered the most efficient mode of transportation, the railway was met with skepticism. Daniel Webster, returning from the funeral of John Adams, inspected Bryant's work and concluded that the future of such a mode of transportation was dubious. However, Webster had not recognized the remarkable engineering genius of Bryant. In the period of just seven months, from the receipt of the incorporating charter to the opening of the railway, Bryant had perfected machinery fundamental to the early development of the railroad, such as the eight wheeled car, the turntable, the portable derrick, the switch, and the turnout.

The Quincy Granite Railway was not the first example of rail use in the United States. It was, however, the first efficient use of railways in a commercial venture, and propelled the country into a new era of transportation.

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