Portland Brownstone Quarries oral history collection

The town of Portland lies directly across the Connecticut River from Middletown and was once considered part of Middletown, East Middletown. Brownstone was mined from quarries there from the late 18th century, although commercial quarrying began nearly a century later in 1783 with the Brainerd Quarry Company. Wesleyan was deeded the rights to the quarries for 50 years – 1833-1884. Income from brownstone helped finance the school and the stone itself was used in the construction of many campus buildings. Brownstone reached its peak popularity in the late 19th century. At that time the quarries employed about 1500 men. The proximity of the quarries to the river allowed the stone to be shipped all over the country and to other parts of the world. Many buildings in New York City and Philadelphia are faced with brownstone from Portland.

In the early 20th century concrete became a more popular building material and the demand for brownstone started to wane. A flood in 1936 and a hurricane in 1938 filled the quarries with water and attempts to drain them proved unsuccessful. This effectively brought quarrying in Portland to an end. Today the Portland Quarries are on the National Register of Historic Places and visitors can enjoy multiple activities at the Brownstone Exploration & Discovery Park.