{"nrhp_refnum":"01000238","name":"Opus 40","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Fite Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Saugerties","county":"Ulster County","state":"NY","lat":42.05123664800007,"lon":-74.0323212216407,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-03-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Opus 40 is a large environmental sculpture built inside an abandoned nineteenth-century bluestone quarry on Fite Road in Saugerties, Ulster County, New York. Harvey Fite built it between 1939 and 1976.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that Opus 40 is an exceptional and unusual example of large-scale environmental art in New York State. Its significance rests on its craftsmanship, massive scale, organic form and dramatic setting, and on its link to its creator, the sculptor Harvey Fite. Fite built it from millions of dry-fitted stones and worked on it until his death in 1976.","narrative":"Opus 40 is a monumental stone sculpture in Saugerties, New York, built inside a bluestone quarry that had been abandoned since the early twentieth century. Sculptor Harvey Fite bought the quarry in 1938 and began clearing rubble the following spring, first intending to make pedestals for his smaller carvings. Over thirty-seven years the project grew into a landscape of ramps, terraces, steps and pools, rising more than two stories. Fite used the ancient dry-keying technique, fitting millions of quarry stones together without mortar so that the surface looks carved from a single block. A nine-ton monolith, raised using methods drawn from ancient Egyptian obelisk building, marks the center. Fite died in a fall at the site in 1976, leaving part of a wall unfinished. The property was listed as an important example of environmental art and for its association with Fite. Three of his smaller sculptures on the grounds also contribute to its significance.","period_of_significance":"1939-1976","architect_builder":"Fite, Harvey","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Current function is listed as a work of art (recreation and culture). The quarry was abandoned before Fite began work, and an unfinished wall and piles of bluestone remain.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:51.34563-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/01000238.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000238/5909476753-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000238/5909476753-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Dmadeo","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Opus-40.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Dmadeo</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Opus-40.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322697","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opus_40","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7099105"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/ulster-county/opus-40-01000238/"}