Deer Isle Granite Museum

08/06/2026

Thank you to our friends and neighbors at The Rising Tide for featuring our upcoming quarry tours and JFK Memorial Exhibit!

These tours sell out so be sure to go to our website, link in comments, and purchase yours today.

See you at the Quarry!

More than 1,500 granite blocks quarried on Crotch Island became part of John F. Kennedy’s memorial gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery. On August 14 and 15, guided tours will offer visitors a chance to explore Stonington’s fabled granite industry and the people whose work connected this small Maine community to a defining moment in American history. Read the full story for free in The Rising Tide.

07/23/2026

When you live on the rock, you live by the rock.

Stonington still has a working granite quarry! Last night one of our board members took these photos as one of the giant granite blocks was trucked off island from where it lands by barge at Webb's Cove.

Join us for boat trip out to Stonington's working quarry, and a tour guided by the quarry owners and workers, on August 14-15. All proceeds benefit the Museum, which is a nonprofit organization.

These popular trips sell out each summer so buy your tickets now at
https://deer-isle-granite-museum.square.site/s/shop

07/16/2026

We opened two new exhibits tonight. It was great to have so many of you with us, sharing family stories. If you missed it, please stop by and check it all out!

07/16/2026

The show goes on even when the weather gods do a little dance as they did this afternoon! We will still be holding our opening from 5 to 7 PM tonight, Thursday, July 16. We hope to see you there drop in on your way out to dinner. Free wine and snacks!

07/05/2026

Have you had a great weekend celebrating U.S. history?! Have you stopped by the Granite Museum for a dose of local history?

We've had a great weekend here, and are open Sunday's in July and August from 12 - 4 pm.

With thanks to our friends and supporters at New England Stone we have new Deer Isle granite items for your shopping pleasure as well! Check it out on Main Street or our website.

06/30/2026

The Deer Isle Granite Museum will open TWO new exhibits on July 16 focused on more of our island history.

One is a new interactive display including original audio recordings of beloved community members such as Mary Mixer talking about Stonington's quarrying history. Come listen!

The other features the creation of the John F. Kennedy Memorial gravesite in Arlington Cemetery.

Robert Poitras was the chief cutter; David Sturdee and “Swede” Olsen were the principal draftsmen; Harold Brown “gave the final finish to each Kennedy stone;” Alton “Moon” Dunham laid the dynamite charges to blast the rock; Henry Bray used the torch to finish shaping the stones so they fit together perfectly; and Aldo Ciomei was the construction boss at the Deer Island Granite Corporation’s big new plant at the Settlement Quarry, supervising the shipments.

Are you a family member, or do you know descendants of any of these men? We'd love to include more of their stories -- who they were, what they were like -- in our exhibit!

Feel free to PM us if you don't want to write in the comments below.

Hope to see you at the Museum, where community stories get shown and told.

Photo: Henry Bray using the torch to finish shaping one of the JFK monument stones.

06/17/2026

Puffin cam is live -- complete with a baby in a burrow, born Saturday! -- at the Museum as we get ready for an opening reception with seabird naturalist Laura Blanford.

Come down and join us from 5 - 7 pm TONIGHT, WEDNESDAY and get up close and personal with our puffins!

The Puffin Boulder Berm on Seal Island serves as a bustling "urban ...