When Back Bay was more of a bay

Here is more , Roxbury TImeline -1910-1950

ROXBURY IN THE 20TH c 1910 -1950

ECONOMY AND INDUSTRY

CIRCA 1910 - Mc Carthy Quarry on Tremont-Pontiac and Calumet Streets closed. In operation for 50 years, it was 7-acre ledge of Roxbury conglomerate bought by the Irish stonemason Timothy McCarthy in 1864. He bought the huge ledge-best seen today from South Whitney Street- to provide stone for the construction of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. The quarry closed because of the increased construction of housing around the rim of the quarry ( Pontiac Street was built as a city street in 1905). It was more than likely used for the last time to provide stone for the double towers of Mission Church completed in June 1910. The northeast slope of Parker Hill along Tremont Street was the largest ledge of exposed Roxbury Conglomerate in Boston and the only quarry used for conglomerate as a building stone. ( The Massachusett would have called the quarry quassukquanehtu , or “among the rocks.”)

The black and tan stone was first used in foundations but with the advent of steam powered machinery in the early 1860’s it became a popular stone for the construction - no less than 20 churches in Boston were built of conglomerate and all the stone came from McCarthy’s Quarry.

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