Halibut Point Reservation
Encyclopedia
Halibut Point Reservation is a nature reserve
located in Rockport, Massachusetts
. The property is cooperatively managed by The Trustees of Reservations
and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. The trustees first acquired property in 1934; the adjoining land was purchased by the state in 1981.
Halibut Point itself is made of 440 million year-old granite. Starting in 1840 granite
was quarried from this area, first on a small scale but on a much larger scale when the Rockport Granite Company acquired the quarry
. The granite industry collapsed in 1929. The trustees of Reservations acquired 17 acres (68,796.6 m²) on the eastern side of the quarry in 1934. The rest of the area was unused until late in World War 2 when a 60 feet (18.3 m) fire control tower, now the park's visitor center, was built to provide aiming information for coastal defense guns. The state purchased 56 acres (226,624.2 m²) of land resulting in the opening of Halibut State Park in 1981. The quarry is filled with water and is about 60 feet (18.3 m) deep at the lowest point. There is a self-guided walking tour around the quarry that tells the story about granite mining in those days.
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
located in Rockport, Massachusetts
Rockport, Massachusetts
Rockport is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,952 at the 2010 census. Rockport is located approximately 25 miles northeast of Boston at the tip of the Cape Ann peninsula...
. The property is cooperatively managed by The Trustees of Reservations
The Trustees of Reservations
The Trustees of Reservations is a non-profit land conservation and historic preservation organization dedicated to preserving natural and historical places in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is the oldest regional land trust in the world and has 100,000 dues-paying members...
and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. The trustees first acquired property in 1934; the adjoining land was purchased by the state in 1981.
Halibut Point itself is made of 440 million year-old granite. Starting in 1840 granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
was quarried from this area, first on a small scale but on a much larger scale when the Rockport Granite Company acquired the quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
. The granite industry collapsed in 1929. The trustees of Reservations acquired 17 acres (68,796.6 m²) on the eastern side of the quarry in 1934. The rest of the area was unused until late in World War 2 when a 60 feet (18.3 m) fire control tower, now the park's visitor center, was built to provide aiming information for coastal defense guns. The state purchased 56 acres (226,624.2 m²) of land resulting in the opening of Halibut State Park in 1981. The quarry is filled with water and is about 60 feet (18.3 m) deep at the lowest point. There is a self-guided walking tour around the quarry that tells the story about granite mining in those days.