It all started millions of years ago during the Ice Age.  That’s when the granite in New Hampshire started to form through compressions deep below the earth’s surface.

In the 1800’s people in New Hampshire began to quarry granite because it was so abundant in the region.

According to cowhampshireblog.com, the state was known to have granite fields across the state, but in 1825, while General Lafayette was enjoying a public dinner in Dover, one Colonel Philip Carrigain, an attorney, decided to sing a song he wrote.

The poem talks about “the Granite State to see”, penned by Colonel Carrigain.  Carrigain mentions “the Granite State” again in his personal letters.  The Concord Register published the lyrics to the song, and also the New Hampshire Patriot & State Gazette.

Months later the Haverhill Gazette & Patriot reported the term “granite state”, coined by Carrigain and so it caught on with the public as well. It all started with a song.

While most Granite Staters don’t know Carrigain’s name, he does have some prominent landmarks and waters named after him in the White Mountains.

If you study New Hampshire history you will know the Colonel’s name because he was not only a prominent attorney, but also Secretary of State for New Hampshire, and he was asked to publish a map of New Hampshire, which he did in 1816 or thereabouts.

According to swensongranite.com, the state’s largest company to quarry “Concord Gray” granite, it’s the only granite company to survive the Great Depression. Quarrying granite was popular in the 1800’s, but with global competition, quarrying in New Hampshire is not as popular today.

In fact, if you see that light gray granite curbing, it’s likely to have come from Concord’s Swenson Granite.

Investigators have identified a man who was shot and killed by police last week after an hourslong standoff at a New Hampshire bed and breakfast.

The police shooting happened early Thursday morning at the Federal House Inn on Route 25 in Plymouth.

The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office said police responded to the area following a disturbance call at the inn on Wednesday afternoon. When they arrived, officers reported hearing what they believed was the sound of gunshots. A man, who investigators said was armed with a rifle, barricaded himself inside.

The New Hampshire State Police Crisis Negotiation Team and SWAT Unit were called in for help. After hours of attempting to negotiate, the SWAT Unit said they had to fire on the man around 12:50 a.m. He was found in a doorway on the first floor with gunshot wounds and pronounced dead on scene.

Prosecutors identified the man Tuesday as 58-year-old Kevin Steinfeldt of Plymouth. They said further testing from his autopsy will be conducted before the cause and manner of his death are announced.

A man named Kevin Steinfeldt is listed on Facebook as the inn’s owner. His Facebook page was converted to a memorial page after last posting Oct. 31.

Authorities are continuing to investigate what led to the incident.

The identity of the person who was shot is being withheld pending notification of family, the attorney general’s office said. An autopsy will be conducted by the chief medical examiner’s office.

No law enforcement officers were injured in the incident, according to authorities.

Six members of the SWAT Unit fired during the incident. Their names are being withheld pending the results of formal interviews, he attorney general’s office said.

Plymouth police said in a Facebook post around 9 p.m. Wednesday that they responded around 2:40 p.m. to a report of shots fired with injury in the area of Route 25 and the traffic circle. They said the nearby Mountain Village Charter School and numerous surrounding businesses were placed in lockdown as a precaution, and all children were reunited with their families.

In a follow-up post at 3:50 a.m. Thursday, the department added that Route 25 from the traffic circle to Hawkenson Drive in Rumney remains closed. Motorists are urged to seek an alternate route.

New Hampshire State Police had provided several updates on the incident on social media on Wednesday night.

Their first post around 4 p.m. Wednesday said that state police troopers had responded to reports of shots fired and a barricaded subject on Route 25 in Plymouth near the traffic circle. They said the subject was contained and there was no threat to public safety.

Troopers have responded to reports of shots fired and a barricaded subject on Route 25 in the area of the Plymouth traffic circle. The subject is contained and there is no imminent threat to public safety. Please avoid the area. Additional updates to follow. pic.twitter.com/l6bMquvaJ0

— New Hampshire State Police (@NH_StatePolice) November 6, 2024