The first slate quarry opening in the town of Poultney was in North Poultney in 1851 on the farm owned by Daniel Hooker and made by him.  The land was located about three miles north of Poultney village and a mile or so south of the historic "Eagle Quarry" site.  The slate was described in 1875 as being of No. 1 quality often finding a market in England.  Marbelizing of slate, a chemical process involving polish, converted the slate into exact semblances of the most beautiful of the foreign and domestic marbles and was also made to imitate rosewood, mahogany and ash.  Eagle Slate Co. was the first to create this process in the Poultney limits; late Williams Bro's & Co. also engaged in it.  In 1875 when the History of Poultney was published, in addition to Hooker's Eagle Quarry, additional quarry operations were active in North Poultney worked or owned in the following names: L.C. Spaulding, Griffith R. Jones, Gardner Parker, Globe Slate Company, Robert Jones quarry, William E. Williams, Lloyd & Co., Lloyd, Owens & Co., Williams, Jones & Co., and John M. Jones.
        The region once had a trolley that connected it to the village of Poultney which was known as "West Poultney" where slate was shipped from the areas numerous quarries.  Other slate quarries in the Valley were connected to the trolley system for export of their product through the Delaware & Hudson railway to regions throughout the world.  Several variations of slate colors can be found in North Poultney including shades of gray, green and purple.  Small segments of red are also found there.
        The historic Welsh Calvinistic Methodist chapel still stands not far from the quarry of Vermont Structural Slate.   Founded in 1870 in the North Poultney area known as "Farnamsville" as a Calvinistic Methodist Church, its services dissolved in the late 1940s.  Believed to be the oldest Welsh chapel in the New England states, it is currently undergoing renovations under private ownership by a North Poultney native who witnessed its spelndor as a youngster.  Photographed by many, it has been included in documentary productions of WCAX-tv, Burlington, Vermont; SEIONT Television of North Wales; Scottish Television Enterprises, Scotland; and Alfresco Productions, Cardiff, South Wales.

Richard H. Owens photograph provided to Poultney Historical Society by his family.  It is not to be downloaded or copied in any means without express written permission of Richard H. Owens and/or his family.

        Richard H. Owens, retired Director of Program Control for NASA's (North American Aviation's) Saturn Rocket is native of North Poultney.  Mr. Owens is also retired Director of Logistics at NASA's sites in California, Mississippi and the launch site at Cape Canaveral, Florida.  He was also founder and President of the Ordrich Gold Mining Company located in central Nevada.
       He has long been an active community volunteer through the Board of Directors of Kiwanis and Special Equestrain Riding Therapy for Austic Children (SERT), on the Board of Directors of the Manna Food Bank as well as the Colony Theatre and active with numerous activities and committees within the United Methodist Church.  He is 1999 recipient of Green Mountain College's Charles Morris Hughes Distinguished Alumni Award.
        Son of Mr. & Mrs. Benjamin H. Owens (both born in North Poultney of Welsh settlers), his ancestors founded a quarry in the Slate Valley region in North Poultney.  Mr. Owens noted they selected the Slate Valley of Vermont as home for themselves and their eight children because it offered employment opportunities similar to those in their homeland of Wales.  Eight more children were born to the family in North Poultney.  Always maintaining strong family connections, the immigrant ancestors celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with 51 members present, including Richard H. Owens.
        Richard entered the North Poultney grammar school in September, 1921, a two room structure with eight grades.  He remarks that it benefited him greatly and that he completed his eight grades in seven years time.  He then entered TroyConference Academy in 1928, graduating in 1932 with honors receiving the RPI Medal of Honor for achieving the highest scholastic averages in both mathematics and science.  He then graduated from Green Mountain College in 1934 and the University of Michigan in 1936.