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All the United States Massachusetts North Adams Natural Bridge State Park

Natural Bridge State Park

Naturally formed white marble arch housed in an abandoned marble quarry from the 1800s.

North Adams, Massachusetts

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Natural Bridge in full Fall effect   Willymjr / Atlas Obscura User
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Names etched in marble   Ken Sears
Sculpture on the grounds   Ken Sears
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White marble dam   Ken Sears
Musical Quarry   happigurl31 / Atlas Obscura User
Natural bridge   m00ndanced / Atlas Obscura User
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About

This state park that contains the only naturally formed white marble arch and human-made white marble dam in North America.

Housed in an abandoned marble quarry from the 1800s, you can still see where former employees etched their names in the marble. It is estimated that the arch formed by Hudson Brook is 550 million years old. The quarry operated from 1810 until 1947 when a fire destroyed the mill. 

Nathaniel Hawthorne, romantic novelist, visited in 1838 and wrote "The cave makes a fresh impression on me every time I visit it ... so deep, so irregular, so gloomy, so stern."

Also contains a small sculpture park.

In Music for a Quarry by Walter Fähndrich, clear tones call across the natural amphitheater of the Hoosac Marble Quarry from 10 speakers, equally spaced along its circumference, for 15 minutes of twilight every evening. Working with the latitude and longitude of the quarry, a computer program begins the music at the same solar time (rather than clock time) each night. The start time (near 8 or 9 p.m. in summer, near 4 p.m. at the winter solstice) changes as the spatial relationship between the earth and sun changes. The first tone appears at the precise moment of astronomical sunset, a moment that is both permanently fixed and changing daily. During this 15-minute period, the burden of comprehending the physical space shifts slowly from the eye to the ear as the sounds are traced to their sources.

Related Tags

Geology Geological Oddities Sculptures Sculpture Gardens

Know Before You Go

Make sure to enter from McAuley Rd entrance. There is no parking on the Natural Bridge Rd entrance.

The self-guided tour on the DCR website is out of date. The path under the bridge was 70 years old and no longer safe. Access was removed in 2023. 

Community Contributors

Added By

kensears37

Edited By

happigurl31, Gamma Draconis, BuncoBilko, Jason C...

  • happigurl31
  • Gamma Draconis
  • BuncoBilko
  • Jason C
  • m00ndanced
  • Willymjr

Published

July 28, 2015

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Sources
  • https://www.mass.gov/locations/natural-bridge-state-park
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Bridge_State_Park_(Massachusetts)
Natural Bridge State Park
McAuley Road
North Adams, Massachusetts, 01247
United States
42.706589, -73.090472
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Nearby Places

Harmonic Bridge

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Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of North Adams

North Adams

Massachusetts

Places 5

Nearby Places

Harmonic Bridge

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Gunnar Schonbeck Exhibit

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Hillside Cemetery

North Adams, Massachusetts

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of North Adams

North Adams

Massachusetts

Places 5

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