The Venable Brothers was a business venture formed by brothers William Hoyt Venable (1852–1905) and Samuel Hoyt Venable (1856–1939) in

DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johann de Kalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama DeKalb County is a County (United States), county in the Northeast Alabama, northeastern part ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. The brothers owned

rock quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safety ...

. Sam Venable was involved in the resurgence of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

and in the creation of the Confederate memorial on

Stone Mountain Stone Mountain is a quartz monzonite dome Inselberg, monadnock and the site of Stone Mountain Park, east of Atlanta, Georgia. Outside the park is the city of Stone Mountain, Georgia. The park is the most visited tourist site in the state of Ge ...

, Georgia.Historic Dekalb County: An Illustrated History By Vivian Price
page 49-51 He owned Stone Mountain, where a

cross burning In modern times, cross burning or cross lighting is a practice which is associated with the Ku Klux Klan. However, it was practiced long before the Klan's inception. Since the early 20th century, the Klan has burned crosses on hillsides as a way ...

was held in 1915, and granted the Klan an

easement An easement is a Nonpossessory interest in land, nonpossessory right to use or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B" ...

to the mountain in 1923. The Venable brothers granted a 12-year lease to Stone Mountain for the carving of the Confederate memorial carving started by

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 ...

.Carved in Stone
The History of Stone Mountain By David B. Freeman The State of Georgia purchased the Stone Mountain property in 1958. Granite from Stone Mountain was used for the steps to the U.S. Capitol Building,

U.S. Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

vaults, and

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

locks. Stone Mountain itself, after several transfers of ownership, was quarried for its granite, which is now found also in the capitol building in Havana, among other places.

History

The Venables bought Stone Mountain in 1887 for $48,000. The brothers donated granite from

for a church on Peachtree and North Avenue in Atlanta.Atlanta and Environs
A Chronicle of Its People and Events, 1880s-1930s By Franklin M. Garrett Sam Venable's home on the northeast corner of

Ponce de Leon Avenue Ponce de Leon Avenue ( ), often simply called Ponce, provides a link between Atlanta, Georgia, Atlanta, Decatur, Georgia, Decatur, Clarkston, Georgia, Clarkston, and Stone Mountain, Georgia. It was named for Ponce de Leon Springs (Atlanta), Po ...

and Oakdale Road was bought in 1959 for $60,000 by St. John's Lutheran Church.Atlanta's Ponce de Leon Avenue: A History By Sharon Foster Jones
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References

{{Reflist Companies based in DeKalb County, Georgia Quarries in the United States Granite companies American Ku Klux Klan members Stone Mountain Granite quarries