A Rattlesnake Hill Granite Quarry crew is pictured on Rattlesnake Hill in Concord, New Hampshire during the later nineteenth century
It was 1854 and the abundance of granite was being quarried by New Hampshire State Prison labor. There were only 30 men employed in the granite industry on Rattlesnake Hill in 1854.
Twenty years later the granite industry had grown to over 500 employees working on Rattlesnake Hill in the quarries. Payroll for the granite men exceeded $364,000 annually and large contracts were being written as the superior quality granite was recognized as premium building stone. With the construction of the Congressional Library, the demand for Concord granite further increased and Rattlesnake Hill soon found over 1,000 men quarrying granite. Concord wards 3, 4 and 9 comprised the homes for many of the men working on the hill each day.
