Kitchen Quarry

Kitchen Quarry (Puckhaber 2025)

Originally the Ripley and Gilson Quarries, the "Kitchen" Quarry is now one of the largest and most recognizable quarries at the West Rutland site; staggering in both length and height.

A good many postcards like the one above feature the Kitchen Quarry running adjacent to railtracks and the mills that would later be served by the gantry crane yard

Barnes and Ripley

In 1843, William F. Barnes joined with William Y. Ripley to form a marble company. They were business partners until 1850. Barnes and Ripley built the Ripley Mill in Center Rutland, though they eventually divided their properties with Ripley taking the mill in Center Rutland and Barnes the quarries in West Rutland, though Barnes was subject to a contract to supply forever a specified number of cubic feet of marble which Ripley was to saw and sell to divide the proceeds. Ultimately, disputes about this agreement would result in the Supreme Court case Marble Co. v. Ripley in 1870.

Later, Ripley built an independent marble processing company named Ripley and Sons.

Ripley Sons Finishing Department in Rutland, VT (1923)

To read more about the Ripley family, see The Last of the Rutland Ripleys from 1989.

After some time, the "Ripley" and "Gilson" quarries were joined to become one continuous quarry as it exists today.

Stone "bridge" above where two quarries connected

Gilson Quarry with a wall separating it from the Ripley Quarry

Postcard of the Ripley and Gilson quarries at a time before the gantry crane ran adjacent to the mills and when the Old Gilson Mill and Baxter Mill were still in operation

"Kitchen" Quarry after Ripley and Gilson quarries were joined beneath separation

View towards northern end (Puckhaber 2025)

View from ledge above Kitchen Quarry (Puckhaber 2025)

View of southern end of eastern wall (Puckhaber 2025)

1921 map of West Rutland traced from 1885 labeling quarries

References

"General Condition of the Sheldon Marble Co.'s Property as leased by the Vermont Marble Co. 1892." Vermont Marble Co. Carving Studio and Sculpture Center, West Rutland, VT.

Georeferenced imagery. Google Earth. "Aerial Imagery." Color imagery, 2025. Google. 2025.

Miglorie, Catherine. Vermont’s Marble Industry. Arcadia Publishing, 2013.

Non-georeferenced imagery. Vermont Imagery. "1962 Aerial Imagery." Black and white imagery, 2019. Vermont Center for Geographic Information. 2025. https://vcgi.vermont.gov/data-release/1962-aerial-imagery-now-available-statewide-non-georeferenced.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from West Rutland, Rutland County, Vermont. Sanborn Map Company, Aug, 1910. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn08959_001/.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from West Rutland, Rutland County, Vermont. Sanborn Map Company, Jan, 1922. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn08959_002/.

State Plane. Vermont Imagery. "VT 1974-1992." Black and white imagery, 1974-1992. Vermont Open Geodata Portal. 2025. https://geodata.vermont.gov/pages/imagery?_gl=1*i137yy*_ga*NjU1NjE1MDQ4LjE3NDY5OTMwMDQ.*_ga_V9WQH77KLW*czE3NTMzNzUxODUkbzMxJGcxJHQxNzUzMzc1MjQ4JGo1OCRsMCRoMA.

State Plane. Vermont Imagery. "VT 1994-2000." Black and white imagery, 1994-2000. Vermont Open Geodata Portal. 2025. https://geodata.vermont.gov/pages/imagery?_gl=1*i137yy*_ga*NjU1NjE1MDQ4LjE3NDY5OTMwMDQ.*_ga_V9WQH77KLW*czE3NTMzNzUxODUkbzMxJGcxJHQxNzUzMzc1MjQ4JGo1OCRsMCRoMA.

Vermont Marble Company - Its Past and Future. Proctor, VT: Vermont Marble Co., 1920. Proctoriana Collection. Vermont Historical Society Leahy Library, Barre, VT.

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