Historic Walls – The Stone Trust

Posted on May 26, 2023May 26, 2023 by Morgan Loeffler

Restoration Completed Finishing the Historic Dutton Farm Wall

Its one thing to work on a beautiful workshop wall at The Stone Trust where walls go up and down every month, its another to dive into an historic farm wall that has been part of the landscape for over 100 years. It creates a sense of respect to think that the wall that we…

Posted on May 3, 2022May 5, 2022 by Amy-Louise Pfeffer

Historic Preservation: 175-year-old walls (circa) restored at Dutton Farm, Dummerston, VT

Posted on June 4, 2020June 5, 2020 by Brian Post - Admin

Exploring an Old Granite Quarry

Laurie Sullivan came to a dry stone walling workshop a few years back and while there showed us pictures of the old quarry on her property. It took a few years but we finally got to take a look. It is a great example of a small stone quarry. Hundreds if not thousands of these…

Posted on May 7, 2020May 8, 2020 by Amy-Louise Pfeffer

The Dry Stone Work of Mitla Archeological Site in Oaxaca, Mexico

Many thanks to Tom Kirschner for contributing this article. A few weeks ago my wife and I reluctantly returned from a Road Scholar trip to the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. Our trip was cut short and we didn’t want to leave. It was clean, safe, and the food and climate are delightful. The people…

Posted on August 26, 2019August 26, 2019 by Brian Post - Admin

Dry Stone Railroad Bridge and Culvert

I recently got a chance to check out two wonderful examples of dry stone infrastructure with Michael Weitzner in Cavendish VT. Likely made from the stone excavated in near by cuttings these stone features show excellent work with the local level bedded gneiss. This section of railway line was built in or around 1848 connecting…

Posted on August 5, 2019August 5, 2019 by Brian Post - Admin

Wassaic Charcoal Kilns

While down giving a presentation about stone walls and foundations at the Timber Framer’s Guild Conference in Manchester New Hampshire last weekend, Mason Lord an attendee, shared some amazing photos of the Wassaic Charcoal Kilns (also referred to as furnaces or pits). These stone structures are of the corbeled beehive type but their large size…

Posted on July 1, 2019July 29, 2019 by Brian Post - Admin

Retaining Walls – In the eyes of a past workshop participant

Judy Rand DSWA-GB Certified Level II Waller and Instructor sent in two photos and the following paragraph. Taking a workshop really does change the way you see the world around you.

Posted on January 24, 2019March 4, 2019 by Brian Post - Admin

Old Walls – are they always built well?

We recently got an email from Paul G. who was working on rebuilding and old wall around a church that probably dates to the mid 1800’s. There were lots and lots of traced stones such as the one pictured below. Paul Asked if it is common for old walls to have been built using poor…

Posted on October 23, 2018August 19, 2019 by Brian Post - Admin

Presentation by Michael Weitzner On Townshend’s Stone Arch Bridges

Stone Arch Bridge Presentation: 2:00pm Townshend VT Town Hall. Townshend Historical Society is pleased to announce a presentation about the Townshend Stone Arch Bridges by Master Stonemason Michael Weitzner, of Thistle Stone Works in Brattleboro. Weitzner has completed an extensive Conditions Assessment of the six surviving stone arch bridges in our area; a selection of…

Posted on April 26, 2018August 15, 2019 by Brian Post - Admin

Cris-cross wall: localized style of old wall

I was up in the Randolph & Brookfield VT area and noticed a localized walling style in the old field walls and even some large foundation walls (which I sadly did not get a photo of). The local bedrock seemed to be naturally splitting away into long narrow strips of stone. In the field walls…