The area used to be a flurry of activity.

Way back in the late 1800s and into the early 20th century, hard working men from both Maine and away made a living working the granite quarries in the Downeast towns of Franklin and Sullivan. These men spent their off-hours living in the numerous boarding homes in the area, in tents, with friends, or in one of the big hotels that were scattered along the coastline during the cold weather months.

You can imagine how hard both human and beast worked back then, extracting the huge granite blocks that weighed many tons each from the quarries and then transporting them to one of the many big schooners waiting in Taunton Bay, which would then take the rock to construction sites up and down the East Coast.

With granite production and tourism, the small area of North Sullivan was in its heyday. Things changed when the quarries ceased operating though.

Now, it's not uncommon to find young adults and families with kids hanging out on the rocks that circle these old quarries, as they've turned in area swimming pools during the hot summer months.  Families with picnic baskets during the day can be found and then those that party at night still frequent the place.

Rumor had it that the old quarry at the end of Quarry Road in North Sullivan had endless depths of 160 feet or more, but when a professional diver made his way down he could only find a maximum depth of 60 feet. Still, deep enough.

Watch the almost 13 minute video below posted to You Tube of what Captain John found on that day back in 2012, and you may or may not be surprised.

On another note, the Sullivan-Sorrento Historical Society will give a tour of a real working quarry on July 21 at the Sullivan Sorrento Recreation Center.

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