Reply #8: No swimming - and I have a photo of the sign! And the rocks really

[Nothing Without Hope]

are interesting. I have a number of shots showing its various surfaces. Where it is fresh and unweathered, it is a light gray granite with a coarse salt-and-pepper pattern. There are multicolored intrusions by other igneous rocks. I read about the history of this ancient congealed pluton in Roadside Geology of Massachusetts.. I've loaned the book out, or I'd quote some of the juiciest bits for you.

Since you're twisting my arm... ... tomorrow I'll post some new links to pictures showing more of the granite in its various personalities: freshly cut, weathered, intruded. Apparently it was a highly prized building material and there were railroad tracks right up to the quarry to take the stone to building sites. I think some of it even went to other countries. The quarry site is an amazing place, quite surreal.

I figure that by posting TinyPic links, I can post fairly large images (in low-res JPEG) without overburdening the thread. Besides, this way you get to look at them one at a time, like opening presents.