He had to blast it

Elm Street in Milford, N.H. in 1915

“New Hampshire is called the Granite State, because it is built entirely of granite, covered with a couple of inches of dirt. The New Hampshire farmer does not “till the soil,’’ he blasts it. For nine months of the year he brings in wood, shovels snow, thaws out the pump, and wonders why {Robert} Peary wanted to discover the North Pole. The other three months he blasts, plants, and hopes.’’

— Will M. Cressey (1864-1930), writer, actor and humorist, in his The History of New Hampshire (1920’s)

Depot Square in Bradford, N.H., in 1913