For centuries, the granite in Temecula’s hills was home to natural silence, oaks, and wildlife. The Temecula Indians used the boulders as metates to grind acorns. That changed in the 1890’s as the first railway entered the valley. Entrepreneurs began to quarry and cut the granite for use as building blocks.
A small start drill was used to create holes along the surface of the boulder. Gun powder was placed in the holes to shape the granite into the desired dimensions.
Granite from the quarry can be viewed in Old Town as well as is far north as San Francisco. Throughout Old Town, small hitching posts made of the granite still stand in front of the Temecula mercantile and Temecula Hotel. The steps to the Bank are formed of granite from this quarry.
By 1915 the granite quarry had closed due to competition from the cement making companies. It was much simpler to pour concrete than to quarry granite blocks.
Reference:
A Thousand Years In Temecula Valley, by Tom Hudson
|