W.E. Dailey Inc.
The Beginning
An interview with W.E. Dailey Jr.
W.E. Dailey started in Shaftsbury, Vermont. The gravel beds there were owned by the town then William Dailey Sr. began to run the plant because he believed he could run it better than the town. At first the town rented the plant to William but later he bought the land and began W.E. Dailey Inc.
The plant ran for years and is still running today. However the technology has changed dramatically since then. The workers at Dailey's would dig the gravel from the gravel beds using hand picks and shovels.
They would throw the gravel into trucks to be transported. Later the conveyer came along and made the work less strenuous. After the conveyers were running William Dailey bought a 3/4 swing, the 3/4 swing made digging and transporting the gravel into dump trucks and other forms of transportation, for instance the electric railway.
The railroad at this time was an asset to the Shaftsbury plant. The plant would use the railroad to transport the gravel to other parts of the town and even to greater distances faster than they had done before with trucking.
Later the loaders were brought to Dailey's and they made loading the gravel easier as well. Production of gravel and transporting was moving rapidly.
The plant brought very much money when roads were being improved from dirt to black top. the gravel that is processed at the plant in Shaftsbury was and still is used for dirt roads as well as crushed stone for black top or hot mix.
Also the gravel produced at the plant in Shaftsbury is used for grating dirt roads as well as laying sand and salt down in the winter to make the roads safer to drive on. After Dailey's was progressing the state began to say that the rock used for hot mix needed to be quarried rock. after the Dailey company was told of this they began to search for a place for the quarry.
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