Halibut Point is on Cape Ann in Massachusetts. Now a state park, then a granite quarry, the scene here reflects a large triangle of granite and quarry, now a pond, in the foreground, and a strip of the Atlantic in the midground. In the distance (you may need to view the larger pic: click pic) is Mt. Agamenticus in Maine.
Everything in this photo begins with that granite triangle:
Halibut Point itself is made
of sheets of 440 million year-old
granite that now descend from
a rocky headland to the tidal
pools below.
.
The area was first used by groups
of Pawtucket Indians who migrated
seasonally to the coast to harvest
its plentiful supply of wild fruits,
fish and game. With the arrival
of the first settlers late in
the 17th century, the shallow soil
was used for farming and cattle
grazing. Samuel Gott, a weaver,
was the area’s first resident.
His home, built in 1702 still
stands just north of the park
entrance.
.
It was probably
during this era that the area
got its name because sailing
ships would tack or ‘haul about’
off here to round Cape Ann.
Beginning in the 1840s, granite
was quarried from this area,
first on a small scale and primarily
along the coast, and then
on a much larger scale when
the Rockport Granite Company
acquired the Babson Farm
quarry and expanded its operation.
from Halibut Point State Park brochure
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