Connolly's quarry, now closed, was located five miles south of

Bathurst, New Brunswick Bathurst ( 2021 population; UA 12,157 ) is the largest City in Northern New Brunswick, it overlooks the Nepisiguit Bay, part of Chaleur Bay and is at the estuary of the Nepisiguit River. As part of the New Brunswick local governance reform , e ...

, in Canada. The quarry was the source of the distinctive pink-grey

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

employed in various prominent government and institutional buildings of the late Victorian,

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

and

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

eras throughout Gloucester County. Bridge piers for much of the

Intercolonial Railway The Intercolonial Railway of Canada , also referred to as the Intercolonial Railway (ICR), was a historic Canadian railway that operated from 1872 to 1918, when it became part of Canadian National Railways. As the railway was also completely ow ...

were constructed with the quarry's stone.

History

Quarrying at the site was begun by Hannah (née Hussey) Connolly's father William Hussey, some time around 1870. The quarry was later deeded to her, likely as a dowry. She and her husband, who worked in the quarry himself, passed it down through the family tree to her sons, Daniel P and Joseph E, who took it over as a business partnership early in the 20th century. Stone from this quarry was used to construct bridges for the

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. The ...

-to- Campbellton section on the

. The stone first came to public prominence in 1886 through the agency of Fathers James Rogers and Thomas F. Barry, who specified its use in the Roman Catholic Sacred Heart church, now cathedral. Many people did volunteer work during the construction of the church, and this secured them a pew seat in the church for many years. In the early years of the 20th century, the Connolly brothers specialised in wharf and bridge pier work; their crews were seen to work along the entire St Lawrence coast of New Brunswick. The

RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environme ...

bases at

Chatham, New Brunswick Chatham is an urban neighbourhood in the city of Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada. Prior to municipal amalgamation in 1995, Chatham was an incorporated town in Northumberland County along the south bank of the Miramichi River opposite Douglasto ...

and Mont Joli, Quebec, were built by them during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Joseph eventually would serve three two-year terms as mayor of Bathurst, and in 1961 was awarded the title '' Freeman of the City''. The partnership between Joseph and Daniel Connolly was replaced in 1955 with Connolly Construction Limited, when the next generation grew into the quarry business. In the William C Connolly era, the corporation employed as many as 200 local men – all of whom had been trained in house – at peak construction times. In the last half of the 20th century, ownership turned to marketing the stone for retail purposes under the name "Bathurst-Gray".

Constructions

* 1886 Sacred Heart church, since 1938 cathedral at Bathurst * 1900 Glos County Courthouse at Bathurst * 1924 Sacred Heart School on St Andrew, now NB Public Health * 1926 Bathurst High School * 1976

Angus L. Macdonald Bridge The Angus L. Macdonald Bridge is a suspension bridge crossing Halifax Harbour in Nova Scotia, Canada; it opened on April 2, 1955. The bridge is one of two suspension bridges linking the Halifax Peninsula to Dartmouth in the Halifax Regional Mu ...

which links the

Halifax Peninsula The Halifax Peninsula is peninsula within the urban area of the Municipality of Halifax, Nova Scotia. History The town of Halifax was founded by the British government under the direction of the Board of Trade and Plantations under the com ...

to Dartmouth (piers)

References

Works cited

* {{coord missing, New Brunswick Quarries in Canada Mining in New Brunswick