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LocalitiesBlueberry Mountain Quarry (Blueberry Hill), Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA

11th Feb 2012 01:08 UTCMatthew Kimball

I am just curious, does this site still exist anymore, or has it all been built over? Can babingtonite (or any other collectible minerals) still be obtained from here? Where is the site located exactly? Thanks for any help in advance!:-)

-Matthew

11th Feb 2012 09:31 UTCBart Cannon

I collected the Blueberry Mountain Quarry in 1964. It wasn't hard to find 3mm well formed babingtonites on white prehnite at that time.

But no zipper linings. Just super hard diabase (?) that made specimen removal quite a challenge.

The quarry was (is?) about a mile and a half SE of the city center of Woburn. Just East of Garfield Street, South of Green Street.

At that time there was an imposing quarry face that would impede residential development. But who knows? Maybe Massachusets has a new generation of urban cliff dwellers.

Send me an SASE, and I will photocopy the relevant page from the 1963 edition of Mineral Guide to New England by Phillip Morrill.

Bart

11th Feb 2012 12:36 UTCJoe Mulvey

I believe the area is now an industrial park, and, while not posted is off limits, is private property.

Best,

Joe

11th Feb 2012 14:40 UTCMatthew Kimball

Thank you both for the quick response. I checked out the area on Google Maps and I am pretty sure I found the site. Large cliff face just behind an industrial park in proximity of the area Bart mentioned. Joe, just wondering, are you sure collecting is prohibited? Any way permission can be aquired?

-Matthew ><>

13th Feb 2012 14:00 UTCRowan Lytle

Matt, if you could find the owner and ask, I bet they'd let you in. almost always works. One day when the golf course was closed at Strickland, I got permission to go in for a half hour!

13th Feb 2012 20:19 UTCMatthew Kimball

Wowser! If you could get permission there, you probably could anywhere! I'll have to visit the area some time soon and try asking at one of the stores. Otherwise, looks like I'll have to take the 2hr. trek to shaft #10 in Hardwick if I want any babingtonite...

14th Feb 2012 00:10 UTCHans Swarts

Hi Matt,

You could do worse - going to shaft #10 in Hardwick.

I went there about 15 years ago. It's a nice flat walk into the woods, and, as I recall, the waste pile sits next to a swampy area. It was sometime in the fall, so no bugs (and no people). Collecting was easy - just look for seams in the pink granite that have a black or greenish cast. The black is carpets of babingtonite crystals, often with epidote (the green). What's really neat is the fluorite you can find here - a lovely blue/purple, with octahedral form prominent - very striking when occurring with lustrous black babingtonite and green epidote.

I also found traces of gypsum, rare sphalerite crystals, and heulandite. Everything is micro in scale - it may be that larger specimens have been found.

One of the more enjoyable random collecting trips I've taken!

Best,

Hans

14th Feb 2012 01:02 UTCMatthew Kimball

Thanks for the tip. I'll be sure to check it out this spring!

-Matthew

16th Feb 2012 16:18 UTCRowan Lytle

I believe the roncari quarry in grandby, ct, is open to collectors and the babingtonite there is amazing

Roncari

16th Feb 2012 18:42 UTCDavid Bernstein Expert

That would be news to me. I thought Roncari has been closed to collectors for years.

17th Feb 2012 00:42 UTCRowan Lytle

Really? I Know a certain collector who has been in there recently....

17th Feb 2012 19:10 UTCFred E. Davis

To the best of my knowledge, Roncari has been closed to collecting for (at least) the last 10 years. I have never been able to get permission from the owners. If this has changed, it must be very recent.

17th Apr 2012 12:53 UTCRick Sinclair

The last I heard people were sneaking in from time to time but I also heard that any one caught was getting arrested for trespass. They had people climbing the walls to get at pockets which we all (should) know is NOT safe or condoned.

17th Apr 2012 13:52 UTCGeoffrey Small

The Roncari Quarry is definitely closed. As far as Blueberry Hill goes, there are the remains of quarries spread throughout the industrial park; however, the businesses here have set up fences and the police patrol often. You may be able to ask around for permission.

26th Apr 2012 01:01 UTCRachel Cesana

The shaft 10 site in Hardwick does have some nice micros. Just went there at the end of March, I do love the little fluorites...most can't be seen at all with the naked eye but get them under a microscope and they sure are pretty. Babingtonite is also micro sized. Recommend being cautious when reaching into any holes as there are snakes that like to sun themselves on the rocks there. Beautiful area to visit. One of my favorites

Rach

14th Jul 2012 21:20 UTCMike Ruprecht

went there around 6 years ago found some nice pieces at the bottom of that big cliff. no one seamed to

care I was there it was rough little spot to climb in to .Babingtonite is encased in Calcite. good luck if

you go!

15th Jul 2012 02:53 UTCMatthew Kimball

Mike Ruprecht Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> went there around 6 years ago found some nice

> pieces at the bottom of that big cliff. no one

> seamed to

> care I was there it was rough little spot to climb

> in to .Babingtonite is encased in Calcite. good

> luck if

> you go!

Thanks! I'll definitely have to look into visiting the place, hopefully some time this month. I'll be sure to try asking permission, of course.

-Matthew

20th Aug 2017 21:13 UTCJonelle DeFelice

Visited the Holton St. area this morning. This was my second visit. The photos I took didn't come out as well as hoped, thanks to all the back lighting. But I did just upload some to the site.

I have a LOT of questions about what I can see on the east wall, but am not sure even how to ask them. For instance, there is a section with a pinky-purple tinge to it, but I don't know if it is staining on the stone, or an actual mineral. I assume the white areas are quartz, though one spot has what seems like more of a white "covering" than anything as solid as quartz. The large pink areas I assume are pink granite. The green, epidote. I was hoping to see something that looked like babingtonite, but I don't know how to tell if black areas are that or just black feldspars, etc.

Would love more info if anyone has some to share!

20th Aug 2017 21:24 UTCJonelle DeFelice

https://www.mindat.org/photo-839001.html

https://www.mindat.org/photo-838992.html

https://www.mindat.org/photo-838991.html

24th Dec 2017 22:30 UTCJonelle DeFelice

A chunk that fell off of what I call the "East Wall". I assume it is a pink granite.

24th Dec 2017 22:32 UTCJonelle DeFelice

Another bit of East Wall found on the ground. About 2.5" across.

24th Dec 2017 22:38 UTCJonelle DeFelice

Three small jasper-like ones

24th Dec 2017 22:48 UTCJonelle DeFelice

This specimen I'd really like to know more about. There are purple and green areas I can't explain. I found a few similar ones as well. Can fluorite look like this? I was thinking perhaps the purple was Purpurite, but that mineral seems to have more of a sheen.

25th Dec 2017 01:06 UTCWayne Corwin

Red or pink yes.

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