Sylacauga marble, also commonly known as Alabama marble, is a

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

that is found in a belt running through

Talladega County, Alabama Talladega County is one of the sixty-seven counties located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama."ACES Winston County Office" (links/history), Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES), 2007, webpageACES-Talladega As of t ...

. It is prized for its pure white color and its crystalline structure. The stone is named after the town of

Sylacauga, Alabama Sylacauga is a city in Talladega County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 12,578. Sylacauga is known for its fine white marble bedrock. This was discovered shortly after settlers moved into the area and has bee ...

, which is sometimes called "the Marble City". Sylacauga marble has been called the "world's whitest". Discovered in 1814, it has been mined for over 160 years, and is used for building, sculpture, and industry. The

Alabama Legislature The Alabama Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a bicameral body composed of the House of Representatives and Senate. It is one of the few state legislatures in which members of both cham ...

passed Act 755 on September 12, 1969, which made this marble the state's official rock.

Occurrence

Sylacauga marble occurs mainly in Alabama's Talladega County. It runs in a swath in length, from the

Coosa River The Coosa River is a tributary of the Alabama River in the U.S. states of Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The river is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, ac ...

to just south of the city of Talladega. The deposit is up to in depth and is focused on the city of Sylacauga, for which it is named.

Mining

Bust of Abraham Lincoln by Gutzon Borglum cph

The first quarry that was developed to mine the marble was that of physician Edward Gantt, established in 1834. The George Herd Family consolidated several smaller quarries shortly thereafter and sold the first quarried marble from the area in 1838 for use as funerary monuments. These and various other quarry operations expanded during the last decades of the nineteenth century. Italian sculptor

Giuseppe Moretti Giuseppe Moretti (3 February 1857 – February 1935) was an Italian émigré sculptor who became known in the United States for his public monuments in bronze and marble. Notable among his works is '' Vulcan'' in Birmingham, Alabama, which is ...

discovered the marble while in Alabama during 1903. He was working on the massive

Vulcan statue The ''Vulcan'' statue is the largest cast iron statue in the world, and is the city symbol of Birmingham, Alabama, United States, reflecting its roots in the iron and steel industry. The tall statue depicts the Roman god Vulcan, god of the fi ...

for the

Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federa ...

, commissioned by the Commercial Club of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. He established the Moretti-Harrah Marble Company, which exposed other areas of the country to Sylacauga marble. Major mining operations today include Omya, Sylacauga Marble Mining, and Canadian Polycor Company. Although the pure white color is most widely known in the market, portions of the deposit produce types with bodies or veining in black, pink, gray, and yellow hues.

Uses

Sylacauga marble is fine-grained and nearly pure calcite, making it extremely similar to white

Carrara marble Carrara marble, or Luna marble (''marmor lunense'') to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara ...

. Sylacauga marble was used for

Gutzon Borglum John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum (March 25, 1867 – March 6, 1941) was an American sculpture, sculptor best known for his work on Mount Rushmore. He is also associated with various other public works of art across the U.S., including Stone Moun ...

's bust of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

in the

United States Capitol rotunda The United States Capitol building features a central rotunda below the Capitol dome. Built between 1818 and 1824, the rotunda has been described as the Capitol's "symbolic and physical heart". The rotunda is connected by corridors leading so ...

. He commented that the stone's fine texture let him portray the expression of kindness on Lincoln's face, something he had never been able to do with other stones. It has been used extensively for architectural projects. Some examples of interior architectural use of Sylacauga marble include the translucent ceiling of the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a List of national memorials of the United States, U.S. national memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, the List of presidents of the United States, 16th president of the United States, located on the western end of the Nati ...

in Washington D.C., the

United States Supreme Court Building The Supreme Court Building houses the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. The building serves as the official workplace of the Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice o ...

(most of the interior, except courtroom) in Washington D.C., the

National Metropolitan Bank Building The National Metropolitan Bank Building is an historic structure located at 655 15th Street, NW in Downtown Washington, D.C. History B. Stanley Simmons of the architectural firm of Gordon, Tracy & Swartout designed the Beaux-Arts style building ...

in Washington D.C., the

Army and Navy Club Building The Army and Navy Club (ANC) is a private club located at 901 17th Street NW, Washington, D.C. The Army and Navy Club Building is one of the tallest buildings in the city of Washington. History The club was founded in December 1885 as the U ...

in Washington D.C., the rotunda of the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in Manhattan, the Mercedes-Benz showroom in Manhattan, the

Old Chicago Main Post Office The Old Chicago Main Post Office is a nine-story-tall office building in Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago. The building was designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White and built in 1921. The structure of the building was expanded greatly in 1932 ...

in Chicago, the Kesner Building in Chicago, the University Club in Chicago, the Select Council Chamber of

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

in Philadelphia, the Brown Marx Building in Birmingham, Alabama, the Florence Hotel in Birmingham, and the

Alabama Department of Archives and History The Alabama Department of Archives and History is the official repository of archival records for the U.S. state of Alabama. Under the direction of Thomas M. Owen its founder, the agency received state funding by an act of the Alabama Legislatu ...

in Montgomery, Alabama. Use of the marble as an exterior building material includes the

Dime Savings Bank of New York The Dime Savings Bank of New York, originally the Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn, was a bank headquartered in Brooklyn, New York City. It operated from 1859 to 2002. The bank was formerly headquartered at 9 DeKalb Avenue, built in 1906–08 in ...

in Brooklyn, the former Connecticut Savings Bank (now Wells Fargo) in New Haven, Connecticut, the

Somerset County Courthouse Somerset County Courthouse can refer to: * Somerset County Courthouse (Maine) * Somerset County Courthouse (New Jersey) * Somerset County Courthouse (Pennsylvania) {{Disambig ...

in Somerville, New Jersey, the main building of the

Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a Private university, private art school, art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, it is regarded as one of ...

in Baltimore,

J. Ogden Armour Jonathan Ogden Armour (November 11, 1863 – August 16, 1927) was an American meat packing industry, meatpacking business magnate, magnate and only surviving son of American Civil War, Civil War–era industrialist Philip Danforth Armour. He beca ...

's Mellody Farm in Lake Forest, Illinois, the

Atlantic National Bank Building 121 Atlantic Place, formerly the Atlantic National Bank Building, is a historic skyscraper in Jacksonville, Florida. It was built in 1909 as the headquarters for the Atlantic National Bank, and is located at 121 West Forsyth Street. It was the ...

in Jacksonville, Florida, the old United States Post Office in Mobile, Alabama (demolished), the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Temple in Washington D.C., and the Chrysler Mausoleum in Sleepy Hollow, New York. Aside from use as sculptural media and as a building stone, Sylacauga marble is also used in industry as a paint pigment, for pharmaceuticals, as a coating to whiten high-quality paper, and other purposes. It is also used in agriculture as a soil amendment.

References

External links

Geological Survey of Alabama
with geological maps showing resource locations within the state {{DEFAULTSORT:Sylacauga Marble Types of marble Geology of Alabama Symbols of Alabama Talladega County, Alabama

Occurrence

Mining

Uses

See also

References

External links