The largest block of granite ever quarried in New Hampshire was cut and loaded by the New England Granite Company on August 7, 1894, in Concord. This granite block was cut from Rattlesnake Hill and weighed 38 tons and was sold for the price of $50,000. Once cut from New England Quarry the block was transported down Rattlesnake Hill to the cutting shed near the railroad tracks on North State Street, across from the present-day Blossom Hill Cemetery.
When this massive granite block left Concord, it was transported by the railroad to Westerly, Rhode Island, for processing and preparation for a grand mausoleum.
The mausoleum was constructed in Woodlawn Cemetery in New York for William Foster, a very wealthy gentleman that made a fortune manufacturing kid skin gloves.
The structure is canopied with a cruciform footprint and one of the first constructed in this era with an “open air” concept void of doors and windows. The Rattlesnake Hill block provided a granite base weighing just shy of 40 tons and measures 42 by 24 feet. Under the slab there are catacombs constructed for eight additional burials. The mausoleum is finished with a double sarcophagus containing William Foster’s remains. There is a total of 16 Tuscan columns and over 1,100 tons of granite used in the structure which is 52 feet high.
To this day, there is almost 40 tons of granite from Rattlesnake Hill, Concord, resting alongside some of the most famous Americans, such as Duke Ellington, Herman Melville and many more.
