The writing of this chapter has been made possible through the workings and efforts of one man and perhaps should be titled "Muzzrole's Excavations".

Previous to his work in connection with the first railway, Richard Muzzrole, an amateur archeologist had done the excavation of the first glass works in Germantown and assisted in the excavation of the first iron works in the Hall Cemetery in West Quincy. He then, in the spring of 1957, started his "provings" of the first railway at its terminous or granite wharf in East Milton. His findings there prompted him to go into the project further.

This brought him to the area of the Bunker Hill Ledge off Bunker Hill Lane in West Quincy. This area was the start of the first railway.

When I first started my research on this railroad in the fall of 1952, all that I knew of to be in existence was the "inclined plane" at West Quincy and the remains of the wharf at East Milton. The rest of the railroad had long since disappeared. However because of the discoveries of one man, my thoughts and ideas on what remained have all been changed. First let's say that to all intents and purposes my original thoughts, or better still my assumptions, were essentially correct, the above-mentioned facts are all that were in evidence.

Through the many and long hours Dick Muzzrole has spent at the Bunker Hill Ledge, the remains of the starting place of the first railway have been unearthed as well as the various remains of the granite operations of Solomon Willard in getting the granite from the quarries, being dressed and made ready for transportation by the railroad for the building of the monument.

He started operations the latter part of 1957 at the "ledge" area and is still working in that area today, May 1962.

My understanding of an "amateur" is one who receives no financial return for his efforts. This Dick certainly qualifies for; however, being like the two men who were responsible for the railroad and the monument, he is self-educated and extremely hard working, and knowledge that he has gained from his excavations would put many learned men with degrees to shame. His ability to locate what he is looking for is uncanny. Certainly, considering the tremendous job he has done, he is entitled to more recognition than the newspaper articles he has done in connection with his findings, also in view of the fact that he has been unemployed a good deal of the time, spending about five years working at the site, plus paying for his own tools and equipment and keeping them sharpened, his transportation expenses, plus that other small item, living.

The Granite Railway Company, as has been previously explained, only operated as a so-called "common carrier" or railroad in the sense that we know today, and from 1830 on was a granite manufacturing company. It is no longer in existence having ceased operations in 1942 by its last owner and president, Henry Faxon.

During the past few years I have made numerous visits to this area and taken many pictures of the work done by Dick Muzzrole during his excavations.

In presenting these pictures, some of them I have included to be used for comparison purposes, others are copies of pictures taken at various times between 1900 and 1930. The rest are ones taken by me from 1957 through 1962. This latter group of pictures would not have been possible except through the efforts and accomplishments of Dick Muzzrole.

After spending considerable time talking with Ezekial Sargent, a retired engineer for the City of Quincy, and checking various historical facts he had in his possession, he advised me to visit the origin or start of the railroad at Bunker Hill Lane and not at the "inclined plane" as it had always been my understanding the first railroad started at the "inclined plane". In the summer of 1957 I went to Bunker Hill Lane, but all I could see was an accumulation of granite of various sizes and shapes and numerous wooded areas. Certainly nothing was to be seen that would show evidence that a railroad was ever there.

After reading an article in the Quincy Ledger by Dick Muzzrole, I contacted him to see if he could give me some information. After explaining my interest in the first railroad and what I hoped to accomplish, he showed me pictures he had taken of his excavations up to that time, and then we proceeded to the original site. ²

No wonder I found nothing there when I visited this area earlier. It took many hours of hard, back-breaking work on his part to clear away trees, underbrush, dirt and debris as well as much granite. This means slow, painstaking work, for fear of obliterating useful findings, clues and artifacts.

Perhaps before proceeding any further, it would be advisable to outline the area to be discussed. By referring to Figure 110, a rough sketch which shows this section, I believe the first areas uncovered are the ones marked number 1 through 6, covering approximately 500 square feet.

My next visit to the site was for the purpose of taking pictures. Perhaps before going into an explanation of the various pictures, it would be advisable to say that during the entire period of excavations the historical facts Dick has uncovered have to do with both the railroad and the granite industry.

By referring to Figure 111 which was drawn by Mr. Draper Hill, and is his conception of the whole area of operation, from facts given to him by Dick Muzzrole, one will be able to get a better picture of where we are and what we are working on. Buy using this as a guide, and by the use of my photographs, perhaps one can get some idea of the various important discoveries of Dick's. It must be remembered, as previously explained, that the first railroad only operated in this area from October 1826 to December 1828, operations having been suspended in September 1828, and Willard decided to use yokes of oxen when operations were resumed. The Granite Railway Company moved its operations to the Pine Hill Ledge where they had built the "inclined plane" and gone into the granite business themselves.

The first section I will discuss is the location of the blacksmith shop. Figure 112 shows the two anvil stands, Figures 113 and 113A show the remains of what Dick believes to be the location of the forge, while Figure 114 is a picture of this whole section which was between the railroad bed and part of a swampy area.

I will depart from this area for the time being. Mainly because of meeting Dick and at his suggestion, we started for the "ledge" to take pictures. By referring to the map, Figure 82, it shows the entire area we are to discuss.

Proceeding in a westerly direction, over rough terrain, between boulders of all sizes and shapes as well as underbrush, we came to our so-called starting point. This clearing, shown in Figures 115 and 116, shows what Dick feels is the first or northeast quarry.¹ By looking at these pictures it can be seen that only the surface boulders were used and no attempt made to go into the ground.

¹ This quarry has been eliminated by Dick as the first quarry and will be explained later.

By going into this quarry and looking over the remaining pieces, there is evidence to show that granite was used from this area between 1825 and 1829 from the flat or original type chisel grooves used by Willard.

Moving in a southeasterly direction, we came upon numerous blocks or granite boulders which show that attempts had been made to "cut" them in size, but were apparently discarded for one reason or another. Figures 117 and 118 show this evidence quite clearly. We next came upon a long and large continuous granite ledge, Figure 119. Dick's first impression was that this may have been used as a runway for moving the granite blocks over it because, as can be seen in the picture, there are still some cut blocks that were discarded. Figure 120 shows the end of this ledge and may have been used to load the blocks to the "timber run"; however, by looking at Figure 121, it shows what appears to be the remains of a loading platform found about fifty feet from the quarry on the southerly side. ²

Still proceeding in a southeasterly direction it seemed that everywhere we looked there were plenty of granite boulders, all sizes and shapes. Figures 122 through 127 show very clearly that the entire "ledge" was covered with plenty of surface stone. Some show where attempts had been made to split them, others did not. Figure 128 shows one such boulder which split due to a defect and was left as you see it, with the piece that broke off in the foreground.

It was Dick's original belief that the "timber run" ran over this area between the previously mentioned northeast quarry and the so-called second or southeast quarry. Figure 129 shows a section running along reasonably straight lines to the second quarry and could possibly have been the location of a section of this "timber run". Still coming down over the "ledge", we come to the second quarry opened. Figure 130 shows this quarry as it appeared about 1930, practically filled with water, while Figure 131shows the quarry as I found it. As has so often been the case with most quarries, after reaching certain depths, water starts seeping in, eventually filling them entirely. ²

This quarry is apparently where Willard first started going down into the ground to cut or quarry and remove stone. This quarry was opened in June 1827, whereas the first or northeast quarry was opened November 16, 1825.

Next we proceeded to the actual working area. Figure 132 shows this section, looking northeasterly, which Dick, from his excavations, figures to be the location of a good sized granite cutting and hammer's shed. Figures 133 and 134 give a better view of the same area looking southeasterly to the left of the roadbed.

The next section to be viewed is the roadbed itself. Figure 135 shows the first sleeper laid at the foot of the "ledge" located on the westerly side of Bunker Hill Lane (Number 3 in Figure 82). By standing on this sleeper and looking in a southeasterly direction one caught a general idea of the route the first railroad traveled. Figure 136 shows the roadbed as it looked in March 1958, while Figure 137 shows the same area as it looked in November 1958 after more complete excavation, and Figure 138 shows what it looks like at present. This clearly shows the tremendous amount of work done by Dick in uncovering the remains of the start of the first railroad and its associated project, the granite industry. Proceeding further along the roadbed almost to the beginning of the swamp area, I took the picture shown in Figure 139. This is the end of the first section of the roadbed and brings us to the swamp area where the trestle was built, which has been explained previously. Figure 140 is a picture taken around 1920 of the same section, parts of the roadbed still visible. ²

Next we come to the section of the roadbed which clearly shows the amount of stone work necessary to build the roadbed. This is again the first section and is covered by Figures 140 through 147. Certainly, William N. Gardner, who had the job of building the first roadbed, did his job well. By looking at this section Dick uncovered, it clearly shows its builder took into consideration the frosts as well as the heavy loads of stone to be carried over this roadbed. This type of construction has been found only in this one area, and this no doubt was done in this manner in order to withstand the heavy loads. Starting with the first sleeper and going in a southeasterly direction, Dick has uncovered about one hundred and fifty feet of this roadbed. This part of his project entailed many hours as well as a great deal of labor. It meant clearing away growth, dirt, underbrush, trees as well as splitting large granite blocks in order to completely expose the area shown in the pictures.

Figure 147A shows the end of a piece of granite with the rust from the steel rail clearly showing and the rivets still imbedded. I believe this to be one of the pieces of granite used at the crossroads in East Milton Square because, according to the records, this was the practice in this area. This stone probably came from Braintree.

Another area Dick cleared away and which I have mentioned earlier in this chapter is where the blacksmith shop stood. From evidence and artifacts he has uncovered here, which included numerous wedges, chisels, shims, a ball peen hammer and a hack saw, he is quite certain that this is where the main blacksmith shop was located.

From the facts and pictures presented in this chapter there can be no question as to where the first railroad began. Not at the inclined plane as some people have believed, nor in East Milton as has been claimed for many years. The evidence has been clearly shown and there can be no doubts.

With the exception of the railroad, which did not operate in this area after September 1828, in all probability this section continued operating and furnishing granite, not only for the monument but for many other buildings as well, until around 1840 at which time Willard contracted with four granite concerns to furnish stone for the completion of the monument. The granite was hauled by yokes of oxen from 1829 on instead of using the railroad.

We now come to the section which is perhaps the most important discovery made by Dick, not only from the railroad standpoint, but the monument and granite industry as well.

In the fall of 1960 he made discoveries which led him to the timber run and the finding of the "lost" Bunker Hill quarry. This discovery by him eliminates his references outlined earlier to me and shown in Figures 115 and 116, although there is evidence to show that some stone came from this area as well as the rest of the area told of earlier in this chapter, but the quantity was very small. ² From Willard's own letters and records, more than half of the stone used in the construction came from this first or northeast quarry. From a copy of a subscription paper originating at the Bunker Hill quarry in Quincy dated June 17, 1827, it says in part; "The work has been in progress nineteen months, in which a new quarry has been opened, the foundation of the monument quarried, dressed and laid. The quantity in the foundation has been estimated at 1500 tons, (1167 measured on the work) on which there has been more than 30,000 feet of rough dressing." From this it may be concluded that the new quarry referred to is the second or southeast quarry shown in Figures 130 and 131, which Willard advised the Association to purchase for insurance in case of running short.

This quarry for years has been known as the Bunker Hill quarry and many believed that all the stone for the monument came from it, myself included. Actually it was operated from 1834 to 1835 and it provided less than a third of the stone used.

This area where Dick has discovered the first quarry and the location of the timber run which was actually the base of operations is located on top of a high and large hill or incline about 140 feet above the road area. Figure 148 is a picture of this location looking up from Bunker Hill Lane. We then proceeded up this rocky hill, which I have done on five different occasions, over granite blocks, a great deal of which landed there during the time Dick has been clearing away the area where the timber run was located. ²

The first place I headed for after researching the top was the first quarry. Figure 149 shows this quarry which Dick has marked for future use. Figure 150 shows another section of the quarry. Nowhere in all the books, references and notes that I have read has any mention been made as to its location until Dick discovered it. His first clues came as a result of his discovering hollow cave remnants which were the size of the stones used in the first courses of the monument. Figure 151 shows one of these hollow cone remnants.

We now come to the location of the timber run which carried the stone from the quarry to the ground below where it was loaded onto the first car. Figure 152 shows the location looking southeasterly from the top of the ledge, the original roadbed clearly showing. Figure 153 shows its direction from its beginning. The strings set out by Dick show this. Also, at the top end of the strings, remains easterly direction towards the quarry, Figure 154, shows the obstacles to be overcome. Figure 155 is another view, the tree trunks showing the location of this timber run which is what enabled Dick to locate this important discovery. Figure 156 shows how these trunks (arrow) is a piece of the old-time "shim" still in place after all these years. The capstan base is clearly shown in Figure 157. This was used to lift the granite blocks onto the timber run. It is Dick's contention that during the time granite was taken from the first quarry, it was rough dressed in this area before being sent over the run. He believes that buried somewhere under all the grout there is a hammerer's and cutter's shed as well as a blacksmith shop. ²

Figure 158 shows numerous paving blocks which were in great demand from 1880 on. Some are imbedded in the tree stump a little to the left of the center of the picture while a pile shows to the right on a large boulder. Evidence clearly shows that these blocks were made from stones left by Willard because the old style flat chisel hoes are still in them on either one or two sides.

This area has been worked by four different groups at different periods. First Willard, then came the "grouters" who apparently had no set period but worked anytime to get the smaller stones, next came the Granite Railway Company, and finally the Quincy Quarry Railroad had a spur going into this section around 1894 or 1895. Figure 159 shows the location of one of the spurs still taking granite.