History Of The Granite City

The “Signature Rock” of the Earth is? You guessed it. Its granite! This is because Mercury, Venus, and Mars all have large amounts of Basalt. This rock is also what covers the Earth’s ocean floor. The reason for the name “Granite” is because of the Latin word “Granum”. Granite contains many large mineral grains to compose the rock of granite. Granite has many colors to choose from including black, pink, blue, grey, red, and white. Mostly, granite contains feldspar and quartz. Granite is considered an igneous rock, which means it was very hot, molten and slowly cooled and cooled over millions of years. Seismic activity over the course time has forced large amounts of granite to be pushed to the surface.

In 1868, the birth of the first St. Cloud Quarry was here. The Breen & Young in East St. Cloud started it and it was in Stearns County right near the county line. The Breen and Young Quarry lasted for about 20 years and experienced very good business. In around 1889, Minnesota Legislation approved the purchase of the 250-acre plot on the east side of St. Cloud for the construction of the St. Cloud Reformatory. The biggest part of this purchase was the St. Cloud Quarry. It was located mostly on the north end of the 250-acre lot. Since the quarry was very valuable for many reasons, the state kept the quarry to keep the prisoners busy and they would in turn mine for granite. They would then use the prisoners to eventually build the prison just outside of St. Cloud.

Photo Courtesy: Stearns County Museum Archives, MN Department Of Corrections