The production of grindstones was a flourishing industry in Cumberland Basin.

The Read family had been in grindstone business since 1800s. They owned quarries at Woodpoint and Wallace in Nova Scotia for building stones and at Ragged Reef, Lower Cove, Stonehaven, and Rock Port in New Brunswick for grindstones. Their two primary products were dimension stones and grindstones.

The grindstones were shipped to various places within and outside the country.

"Grindstones were shipped to the U.S. and were used to finish Stanley tools, Colt pistols, Remington shotgun barrels and Collins machetes. The Stonehaven quarry produced the finest natural abrasive in the world until the 1920s when synthetically-bonded abrasives such as carborundum replaced the natural grindstones."

More information can be found in the book, 'Cumberland Basin Grindstone Industry' by Paul Bogaard

White Fence, issue #3