Home: Granite

Granite, the stone of choice

There are many colors of American granite to choose from (as you can see here and at right). The prices of the granite do vary by the color of the granite. This does not say anything about the quality of the granite. It is more for the demand and supply. Some of the granite is closer to the surface and is easier to quarry and there is not as much waste when it is quarried, therefore it is less expensive than other colors.

Our colors of granite that we use now come from all over. We get some from Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Georgia, Vermont, Minnesota, Missouri and India. Our granite comes to us by semi-truck. It used to be that all granite came in on rail cars. That is why monument shops were by the railroads.

There are several different kinds of monuments. There are 4" thick grassers, 6" tall bevels or markers, triangle shaped wedges that set on the concrete foundation or else on a granite base and upright monuments that set on a granite base.

The designs that are put on monuments are very personalized
anymore. We try and tell something about that person. The personalizations that have been used vary. We have put on chickens, cows, cats, dogs, horses, fish, pheasants, deer.

Almost every flower has been used at one time or another. We have put tractors, combines, hay balers, trucks, cars, wheat, the list can go on and on.

One of the newest ways of personalizing a monument is with stone posts. We buy our stone' posts from farmers. Some of them have even have the barb wire still in them. I am still waiting for one for my yard. We do like to remind people that when they put a lettered stone post in their yard, they should put water sealer on it at least once a year. This will keep it from flaking off.

We produce a lot of posts for Christmas gifts. They would also make nice Mother and Father's day gifts, but we do not advertise them at these times because it is so close to Memorial day and we are so busy with monuments.