What stone do we use for headstones, and how are they made?

Headstones were originally put next to houses or churches before there were many cemeteries. Marble was widely used because it was softer and easier to carve by hand. On the rock hardness scale, marble is 3. Now that we can sandblast, granite is a much better choice. It is a 7 on the hardness scale.

We use strictly, monument-grade granite for our headstones unless someone specifies a different stone.

We still get light gray granite from Georgia, Mahogany from South Dakota, Rose from Canada and the rest are from overseas.

Granite Quarry in Cold Springs, Mn

Breaking out the granite blocks.

Blocks ready for fabrication.

Cutting blocks to uniform size.

Machines do most of the work now. Some cutting is even done with pressurized water.

:Large warehouses store and distribute the polished granite markers in many shapes, colors and sizes. We can then order and have the granite headstones sent to our location for carving. We do all the art work, carving and dye work right here in our shop.