PINE
HILL is located on the high
ground in the northwest section of what is now Rutland City . In
its early history the eight-acre Pine Hill Pond was an area for
boating and fishing. The area was a great location for the hiker
and later for the photographer who wished to capture an overview
of the growing City of Rutland . Pine Hill Pond later became known
as Rocky Pond. A small pond next to Rocky Pond is known as Muddy
Pond. There is reason to believe that the two ponds were connected
in the past.
In
1922 the City of Rutland established a stone crusher on Pine Hill
to take advantage of the rock available for crushing for use on
the streets of Rutland before the use of contemporary paving processes.
By 1933 the crushing operation had ceased and its buildings deteriorated.
In 1952 a community effort, led by the Rutland Chamber of Commerce,
and Rotary, Kiwanis and Exchange clubs and many volunteers as well,
built a beach, bathhouse, picnic tables, parking lot and a road
to the pond. The area was opened to the public in 1954. But after
a drowning and much off-season vandalism, the rehabilitation project
was abandoned at the end of the 1957 season.
Today
the Pine Hill area near the Pond has been developed into a complex
of well-marked mountain bike and hiking trails maintained by the
Rutland Recreation and Parks Department.
Jim Davidson
Rutland Historical Society
Sources:
-
Crossman, Paul J. Jr. "Development of Rocky Pond Recreational
Area, Rutland, Vermont, 1952 - 1954," Rutland Historical Society
Quarterly.Vol. XXIX No. 1, 1999.
-
Crossman, Paul J. Jr. "Pine Hill Stone Crusher and Early Stone
Crushing Practices in Rutland, Vermont (1887 - 1932)," Rutland
Historical Society Quarterly. Vol. XXVIII No. 2,
1998.
- Pine
Hill Park (Map). Rutland Recreation and Parks Department.
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