Reading Law & Quarrying Stone: The Hand House & Scragwood

photo courtesy of Jim Kinley
photo courtesy of Jim Kinley

Last Offered 2017. Not currently being offered.

This outing will focus on two mid-nineteenth century Essex County families and their businesses: the law practice of Augustus C. Hand in Elizabethtown and the bluestone quarry of Solomon Clark on Willsboro Point.  Their stories will come to life through their homes, the Hand House and Scragwood.

We will begin our day at the Hand House with a presentation and  tour with Jim Kinley and Mary Bell. This carefully maintained 1849 Greek Revival house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

photo courtesy of Darcy Hale
photo courtesy of Darcy Hale

Following lunch, we will caravan to Willsboro Point to tour Soloman Clark’s Scragwood. While they were best known for providing foundation stone for the Brooklyn Bridge and a host of other local and regional edifices, the Clark family’s entrepreneurship as farmers and shipbuilders was as important as their prowess as quarrymen. The house, outbuildings, grounds and a small quarry, are all part of the Ligonier Point National Register Historic District.

 The tour begins at 10 a.m. and ends around 4 p.m.  FEE: $35 for AARCH members and $45 for non-members

TOUR REGISTRATION INFORMATION