Thread by @MiningNS

McKeens Quarry in #Pictou County is one of the oldest quarries in #NovaScotia. It began producing sandstone in the mid-1800s under the name Fogo Quarry and was worked continuously until the 1940s.
#nspoli @TimHoustonNS @karla_macf_pc @SeanFraserMP @TOWNofPICTOU @PictouCounty_NS

It was later quarried to produce rock fill and armour stone.
McKeens stone was used in many heritage buildings, including the Charlottetown legislature and @NewGlasgowNS Town Hall which was built 1884-1887…at a cost of $43,285.61!
#nspoli @TimHoustonNS @karla_macf_pc

It was commissioned by Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald, one of 78 Post Offices/Custom Houses he built across Canada. It was also briefly the town's courthouse. The Town of #NewGlasgow bought the building after the old Town Hall was severely damaged by fire in 1957.
#nspoli

McKeens also provided the stone for the building at 28 Willow St. in #Pictou which was built in 1890 for $11,000 by Melville McKean, son of Adam MacKean (more on them below). It was originally the Pictou jail but a prisoner set the building on fire in 1969.
#nspoli @TOWNofPICTOU

It was condemned after the fire but was renovated by @PictouCounty_NS.
In addition to Fogo, the McKeens Quarry was also likely once called the Belleville Quarry. Figuring out the history of old quarries can sometimes be challenging for several reasons.
#nspoli @karla_macf_pc

Their names often changed based on who operated them in a particular period. They often crossed property lines as they developed which makes it harder to pinpoint locations and ownership.
#nspoli @TimHoustonNS @karla_macf_pc @SeanFraserMP @TOWNofPICTOU @PictouCounty_NS

Also, there were often several small quarries in an area, which can make it difficult to identify each of them, especially since historical maps were hand-drawn and therefore imprecise.
#nspoli @TimHoustonNS @karla_macf_pc @SeanFraserMP @TOWNofPICTOU @PictouCounty_NS

McKeens Quarry is also an example of how inaccuracies in record-keeping can muddy the historical record. The Belleville Quarry was operated at one point by Adam McKean and Sons, Architects & Builders, whose offices were on Chapman St. in #Pictou.
#nspoli @karla_macf_pc

It’s likely that Adam McKean (with an A) is the same person for whom the McKeen Quarry (with two Es) is named and that the spelling was altered at some point.
The quarry’s name has also been written with an apostrophe to indicate...
#nspoli @TimHoustonNS @karla_macf_pc

...that “McKean” owned it (i.e. McKeen's Quarry) and just as McKeen Quarry (without an S). The spelling of names in the 1800s often changed based on errors or the education level of the people doing the census or generating other historical records.
#nspoli