SEDGWICK – The scenic turnout atop Caterpillar Hill got a long-awaited addition this weekend.

Crews from Freshwater Stone and Brickwork in Orland on Friday transported three 7,000-pound granite stones from Stonington, where they had sat for a year, and installed them at the turnout.

The setting of the stones moves a plan to create informative markers at the site much closer to completion.

“For three years, I wondered if it would ever be done,” said Francis Folino of Stonington, who has been the driving force behind the project. “There were times I thought it was a dead duck.”

The spot has long been an attraction for travelers on Route 15, offering a panoramic view of Penobscot and Blue Hill bays to residents and visitors alike. Two years ago, the Maine Department of Transportation expanded a small picnic area to a true scenic turnout.

When he heard of the plans for the turnout, Folino developed the idea of installing granite markers depicting scenes from the neighboring towns that are visible from the scenic overlook.

With the donation of the three granite slabs by New England Stone, which owns the Crotch Island quarry where the stones were cut, the project was well under way.

Over the next several years, Folino worked with DOT, local officials, businesses and volunteers to develop the project. Historical societies from the towns of Brooklin, Sedgwick, Brooksville, Penobscot, Deer Isle and Stonington chose the historic photos and information that have been laser etched into three, 4-foot-square black granite slabs that will be attached to the larger granite stones.

The slabs depict scenes from around Penobscot Bay, both historic and economic: cutting ice, fishing, granite quarrying, brick-making, as well as geological information, the failed Penobscot Expedition during the Revolution, and the local sailors who crewed the America’s Cup ships in the 1890s.

“We had so much help,” Folino said. “Volunteers gave me so much information. You can’t put a price on that. And if I had to buy those big stones, they’d cost between $4,000 and $5,000 apiece.”

Folino also credits two transportation commissioners – former Commissioner John Melrose and Commissioner David Cole – with making the project a success. Melrose encouraged him early on to pursue the project and worked with Cole to ensure that it moved forward, he said.

Cole also supported the project and suggested that Folino seek a DOT Gateway grant to have the etchings done. Folino spent $4,000 of the grant on the etching.

“They’ve got a $25,000 project there and it only cost the state $4,000,” he said.

There were some delays along the way, Folino said, and it wasn’t until last week that he learned that DOT crews had prepared the site for the large stones. Deputy Transportation Commissioner Bruce Van Note helped to tie everything together and make sure it got done, he said.

Folino hopes the markers will not only become an attraction at the turnout, but that they will create economic opportunities for the surrounding towns by encouraging travelers to visit those towns.

“This bay has a lot to be happy about,” Folino said. “There’s a lot of things there that people just don’t know about.”

Depending on the weather, a crew plans to transport the etched slabs to Sedgwick and install them sometime next week.