Open by appointment only – Individual Guided Tours Fridays through Sundays – (April thru November)
Visit our Events calendar to choose a tour and RSVP.
Contact us for Group Tours (Mondays thru Thursdays)
Since the 1890’s, Schuyler, Virginia, has been the soapstone capital of the world, mining and shaping talc-rich steatite into products both useful and beautiful. Schuyler remains the only active soapstone-quarrying area in the U.S. The quarries under these gardens were worked-out in the mid-1970’s, then used as dump-sites, and finally abandoned to grow wild.
In the 1920s—when no modern housewife would be without her soapstone laundry tub—the Alberene Soapstone Company, whose main processing plant was located in Schuyler, employed more than 1,800 people. Over the years, some 90 holes were quarried, most of them in Nelson County, with around a dozen pits in and around Schuyler proper. Five of these quarry pits (the first of which was No 27 of the company’s holes) are the center of what is now The Quarry Gardens at Schuyler.
Over the past forty years, the magnesium-rich soil around the quarries has supported the growth of unusual ecosystems and plant communities. Walking trails will give access to these places with a minimum of disturbance. Added plantings will complement existing species and advance the process of forest succession while offering knowledge and enjoyment to visitors.
Amenities
- LGBTQ+ Friendly
Region
Last Updated: 01/16/2018
What's Nearby
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6484 Rockfish River Road
Schuyler, VA 229690.84 MI
