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“Marble had been quarried in the Rutland area since the early nineteenth century, but the industry remained small, broken up among many ephemeral firms. The arrival of the Rutland and Burlington Railroad in 1849 began what one historian calls a ‘major revolution’ in Rutland’s marble industry, a period of ‘marble-mania’.”
-Paul M. Searls in his book Two Vermonts: Geography and Identity, 1865-1910
Whitehall or Champlain Canal (1908)
Before the Arrival of Railroads
Before the Arrival of Railroads
Fred Patch, in his history of the marble industry, describes how before the arrival of railroads marble was taken by teams in West Rutland westward to the canal in Whitehall, NY.
"They would start from the quarry in the morning, drive toward Rutland to the main road where it now [1932] crosses the D&H tracks, then turn West, pass through the present village of West Rutland, and out the Castleton road, stopping at noon for lunch and to feed the cattle at a point just opposite the quarry and not over three-quarters of a mile across the swamp."
-Fred Patch on John Sheldon's experience taking marble to
Castleton, Poultney, and Fair Haven directly
The first railroads came in the early 1850s with the Rutland and Whitehall stretching westward from Rutland, VT towards Whitehall, NY in 1850 and the Rutland and Burlington running north to south through many Vermont towns in 1849.
The Rutland and Washington, like the Rutland and Whitehall, traveled westward though it branched off to travel much further through the edge of New York in 1852. Later, the Rutland and Burlington would simply become the Rutland Railroad and the Rutland and Whitehall and Rutland and Washington would be under the control of the Delaware and Hudson.
From 1887 to 1888, Fred Patch helped lay the track for the Clarendon and Pittsford branch running up from the westward line to connect the mills and quarries of West Rutland, Proctor, and Pittsford to a major railroad.
Early Clarendon and Pittsford car
To learn more from Rutland Historical Society Quarterly, see "The Clarendon and Pittsford Railroad" from 1981.
Railroads of the Region
Railroads of the Region
Rutland and Burlington (1849) running north to south
Rutland and Whitehall (1850) running westward to Whitehall, NY
Rutland and Washington (1852) running westward from Rutland
Rensselaer and Saratoga overtook Rutland Railroad lines running west
Delaware and Hudson leased Rensselaer and Saratoga beginning in 1871
Clarendon and Pittsford (1887-1888) branch running north from D&H to connect mills and quarries in West Rutland to major railroad line
By the 1870s, railroads had spread throughout the region and into quarries to haul marble ore, making transporting stone not only more efficient around the marble yards but out to those purchasing the stone.
To learn more, see Then Again: How early railroad competition shaped today’s Vermont.
Railroad track and crane system to transport marble to and from railcars in Proctor, VT
Marble blocks being transported on a Clarendon and Pittsford Railroad car
Construction of railroad track in 1958
View of electric gantry crane and railroad tracks running between marble yard and quarries in West Rutland, VT
Singular remaining rail track left on West Rutland site today (2025)
Rutland Railroad map (1889) cutting through Proctor and Rutland
To learn more about the decline of the railroad in the area, see Fall of the Rutland Railroad in the Rutland Historical Society Quarterly.
To learn about the decline of railroads in the United States, see the history of rail transportation in the United States or Modern Decline of Railroads by How Stuff Works.
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