Evidence of the granite trade remains all over Barre [1] in the form of monuments erected by master carvers who worked in the quarries. At the turn of the 20th century, Scottish immigrant stone cutters banded together to produce a statue of Robert Burns on an enormous base on Washington Street. The memorial, considered one of the best granite sculptures in the world, was unveiled in 1899 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Burns’s death. (As a point of national pride, the actual carving was done by Italian sculptors working on models by the Scots.)
The massive art deco warrior depicted in the 1924 Soldiers and Sailors Memorial on North Main Street is reminiscent of the figures at Rockefeller Center in New York [2]. The statue, also known as Young Triumphant, was adopted as Barre’s city seal.
A more recent memorial at last gives the generations of Italian stonecutters their due; erected in 1985, the Italian-American Monument on North Main Street depicts a 23-foot-high apron-clad figure heroically grasping a hammer and chisel. The monument is dedicated to Italian sculptor Carlo Abate, who established the first school for stone carving in Barre [1] in the early 20th century.
Links:
[1] http://www.moon.com/destinations/new-england/vermont/northeast-vermont/capital-region/barre
[2] http://www.moon.com/destinations/new-york-city-long-island/manhattan/midtown/rockefeller-center