Friday, November 18, 2016

Another small town

 Still winding our way back from that ride to Princeton in October, we stopped at the granite quarry in Montello. With a population of not quite 1,500, Montello sits in southcentral Wisconsin and is the county seat of Marquette County. Founded in 1848, Montello may be best known for the quality of the granite which was quarried here from 1880 until the 1960s. In fact, the granite from this location was so durable and beautiful, that it was chosen for the monument at Grant’s Tomb, beating out 280 pieces of granite from around the world. 
 In 1977, when the quarry shut down, the piece of property changed hands a few times and parcels of it were sold off. In 1992 the waterfalls in these pictures were constructed and the water running over them is currently being pumped by the city of Montello.



 This waterfall, however, was created by the Montello Lions Club in 1966. I don’t know how that happened, just adjacent to the quarry. I didn’t have much luck on-line. Guess what, folks, I’ll have to go back here someday. (Along with all those other little towns I need to further explore.)  
Know what I really think?  I really think I need to get someone to fly me over this place  in their plane.

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