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Green Head Lime Quarries Transcript

Transcript

Dr. Randall Miller, Research Curator, Geology and Palaeontology, New Brunswick Museum

This is the foundation of Joseph Armstrong’s house. Joseph Armstrong was one of the owners of the Green Head lime quarry. This is the Armstrong lime quarry on Green Head Cove. This quarry produced lime for most of the 1800s under various owners but Joseph Armstrong was one of the key players in the lime industry. Actually a lot of the lime that was produced here was used to create mortar and a lot of the buildings in Uptown Saint John built after the Great Fire were mortared together with Green Head lime. Right behind me is one of the kilns where they burnt the marble blocks to create the lime.  The bricks at the quarry are interesting. In the 1800s there were no places in New Brunswick that made firebricks, these are bricks made to withstand the high heat of the kiln. Bricks like this from Gartcraig were imported from Glasgow, Scotland.