Sunset Hill Gravel 1911

 

Sunset Hill Gravel Pit circa 1916

Remains of stone foundation

A walk through the woods on the northern side of Sunset Hill reveals the remains of a stone cellar.  A building of some kind that was abandoned long ago.  It sits in a cut of land that rises steeply to Sunset Hill on the south.  Today tree growth partially obscures the fact that this was once a productive gravel pit abandoned one hundred years ago.  What was this gravel pit and why was it here?  The short answer is this gravel pit was owned by William Augustus Shapleigh (1859-1932) who owned the large old home that his father Samuel built which is now 196 Fore Road.  In October 1911 construction began on a branch of the Atlantic Shore Line Railway to bring rail cars to the gravel pit.  This branch line can be seen on the 1916 USGS map.

1916 USGS map

Eliot has not had a shortage of gravel operations, both in the past and continuing today.  The reason for this is the location of many glacial outwash features that make up Eliot's landscape.  Eliot features many glacial drumlins that are basically the result of receding glaciers dumping the enormous amount of rocky debris that had accumulated in the ice at certain spots on the surface of the land as they melted and receded north 16,000 years ago. 

Eliot drumlins in terrain view

Many of these drumlins have been further eroded by the ocean waters that poured in while the bedrock was still compressed from the weight of the glaciers.  The drumlins are the various hills that we see around Eliot.  They are mostly elongated, often teardrop-shaped and point in the direction of the glacier's retreat.  The drumlins contain much of the gravel material sought for construction projects.  Sunset Hill was one of these.

Contour map of Sunset Hill

In September 1912 a railcar loaded with gravel from the Sunset Hill gravel pit derailed causing disruption to normal rail transportation between Eliot and Dover, NH for several hours.  Rail worker Perley Dame of South Eliot was injured in the accident.

By 1919 the gravel pit was deeded to William's son Henry who seems to have used to it to secure mortgages that were eventually settled in 1930 by signing the land over to the York County Trust Company.

The land today is mostly overgrown.  Most people, unless they live near the site, have probably never heard of it or have seen the remains of the gravel operation.  It is one of the historical treasures that are fun to come across while taking a leisurely walk through the woods.  A reminder of a time long ago.

In 1940 all of this land was acquired by Edward and Minnie Gleason who in turn deeded it to Melvin and Alice Stadig in 1942.  The Stadig's owned it until 1977 when they sold it to Robert Levesque Sr. who then deeded it to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland, who held it until selling to the present owners in 1996.