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Home > Arizona
“Meeting the challenge of balancing America ’s needs for both nonrenewable resources and a clean, healthy environment requires accurate and unbiased scientific data. The ongoing work of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists provides information crucial to the creation of sound public policies that will ensure future supplies of mineral resources while protecting the health of our Nation’s citizens. Three archives, in Anchorage, Alaska, Spokane, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona, are maintained by the USGS to help policymakers, industry leaders, government officials, elected representatives, and the general public make informed decisions on mineral issues based on accurate, up-to-date, and impartial mineral-resource information….”
Bedrock Geological Map of Arizona, presented by Andrew Alden on About: Geology.
US Board on US Geographic Names - The New U.S. and Territories Query (Search the USGS Geographic Names Database.)
Yale Peabody Museum: GNIS (Search the USGS Geographic Names Database)
Minerals and Mining: Their Importance To Arizona, by Gail Lichtenhan. (A multidisciplinary unit for Grades 4 to 6.) [PDF]
Following is a partial list of the Contents of Stone In Arizona: (III) General: History, Present uses, Industry economic status, Exploration, and Production and values; (IV) Resources: (A) Sandstone: Geology and area extent, Coconino sandstone, Structure, Composition and physical character, Production, Shipping, Costs, Specifications, products, trends in use, Problems, Moenkopi formation, DeChelly sandstone; (B) Marble: Geology and areal extent, Composition and physical character, Production, products, shipping, and costs, Specifications and trends, Problems; (C) Tuff: Terminology and general geology, Character of representative deposits, Production, and Problems; (D) Granite; (E) Slate; (F) Limestone; (G) Schist; (H) Miscellaneous stone: Rhyolite and porphyry, Basalt and scoria, Travertine, tufa, and onyx marble, Quartzite and quartz, Jasper, Copper stained rock, Magnesite, Serpentine; (V) Available Stone - Land Status and Acquisition of Mining Rights; (VI) Transportation & Freight Rates: Railroads and Trucking; (VII) Labor Market; (VIII) Depletion Allowance, Taxes, and Insurance; (IX) Potential; (X) Glossary; (XI) Annotated Bibliography; (XII) Agencies Concerned with Stone Industry; Map - Showing quarry sites and major transportation routes.)
| State & Company | # of Quarries | Kind of Stone | County | Headquarters Location |
| Western State Stone Co., Inc. | 13 | sandstone | Yavapai | Santa Clara, CA |
NOTE: Click "List of Available Publications" for the publications that are available on the Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources publications list.
A Location Guide for Rockhounds, (PDF) Collected by Robert C. Beste, PG, St. Louis, Missouri: Hobbitt Press, 2nd ed., December 1996, 148 pp. (Includes chapters on “Mineral Locations by State,” “Appendix and Glossary,” and “Bibliography.”)
“Marble Quarrying in Arizona,” (in PDF format) in Mine and Quarry Magazine, Sullivan Machinery Co., Chicago, Vol. V., No. 2, October 1910, pp. 440-442.
State Agencies Concerned With Mining & Mineral Resources in Arizona, adapted from Circular 109, January 2006 version 1.2. State of Arizona, Department of Mines and Mineral Resources,
Following is a partial list of the Contents of Stone In Arizona: (III) General: History, Present uses, Industry economic status, Exploration, and Production and values; (IV) Resources: (A) Sandstone: Geology and area extent, Coconino sandstone, Structure, Composition and physical character, Production, Shipping, Costs, Specifications, products, trends in use, Problems, Moenkopi formation, DeChelly sandstone; (B) Marble: Geology and areal extent, Composition and physical character, Production, products, shipping, and costs, Specifications and trends, Problems; (C) Tuff: Terminology and general geology, Character of representative deposits, Production, and Problems; (D) Granite; (E) Slate; (F) Limestone; (G) Schist; (H) Miscellaneous stone: Rhyolite and porphyry, Basalt and scoria, Travertine, tufa, and onyx marble, Quartzite and quartz, Jasper, Copper stained rock, Magnesite, Serpentine; (V) Available Stone - Land Status and Acquisition of Mining Rights; (VI) Transportation & Freight Rates: Railroads and Trucking; (VII) Labor Market; (VIII) Depletion Allowance, Taxes, and Insurance; (IX) Potential; (X) Glossary; (XI) Annotated Bibliography; (XII) Agencies Concerned with Stone Industry; Map - Showing quarry sites and major transportation routes.)
The Technology of Marble Quarrying, U. S. Bureau of Mines Bulletin 106, by Oliver Bowles, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1916.
(The following list of Arizona quarries is not a complete list of all of the historical quarries in the state, only the ones I have been able to locate. If you know of more historical quarries in Arizona, please contact me. Peggy B. Perazzo).
Map Showing Quarry Sites & Major Transportation Routes (circa 1962) in Stone In Arizona, (in PDF) by Roland C. Townsend, Consulting Geologist, Phoenix, Arizona, 1962. Originally prepared by the Arizona Development Board. 50 pp. (A reprint is offered from the Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources: List of Available Publications.) (Stone in Arizona is available in PDF format on the Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources web site.)
Following is a partial list of the Contents of Stone In Arizona: (III) General: History, Present uses, Industry economic status, Exploration, and Production and values; (IV) Resources: (A) Sandstone: Geology and area extent, Coconino sandstone, Structure, Composition and physical character, Production, Shipping, Costs, Specifications, products, trends in use, Problems, Moenkopi formation, DeChelly sandstone; (B) Marble: Geology and areal extent, Composition and physical character, Production, products, shipping, and costs, Specifications and trends, Problems; (C) Tuff: Terminology and general geology, Character of representative deposits, Production, and Problems; (D) Granite; (E) Slate; (F) Limestone; (G) Schist; (H) Miscellaneous stone: Rhyolite and porphyry, Basalt and scoria, Travertine, tufa, and onyx marble, Quartzite and quartz, Jasper, Copper stained rock, Magnesite, Serpentine; (V) Available Stone - Land Status and Acquisition of Mining Rights; (VI) Transportation & Freight Rates: Railroads and Trucking; (VII) Labor Market; (VIII) Depletion Allowance, Taxes, and Insurance; (IX) Potential; (X) Glossary; (XI) Annotated Bibliography; (XII) Agencies Concerned with Stone Industry; Map - Showing quarry sites and major transportation routes.)
“Quarrying 1913” Photograph from the Northern
Arizona University, Cline Library (The link for
this photograph is no longer available on the web site.)
<http://www2.nau.edu/~libei-p/scadb/recdisplay.cfm?control_num=644>
(1) Francis Day & Sons, Richville Pit/Aggregates (employed 2) and (2) Town of Eager, quarried aggregates at various mine sites (employed 1).
A A Quarry, employed 1.
Cinnamon Quarry, employed 4.
Fitzgerald Quarry, employed 2.
"The sandstone quarried around Ash Fork is on many of the most notable buildings in the country and world."
All of the following locations are involved in the Dunbar Stone Co. quarrying and preparation of flag stone and/or dimension stone.
Armstrong Rose, employed 6.
Billy 1 and Billy 2, employed 3.
Blue Jay Quarry, employed 3.
Horner Quarry, Ash Fork, employed 3.
Roeder Quarry, employed 5.
Yellow Buck Quarry, Ash Fork, employed 3.
The Stoneworld Company manages the operation of twelve quarries at Ash Fork, Arizona, which it produces eight colors of Arizona Flagstone.
Quarry Division (includes photographs of quarries, etc.)
Apache Quarry, employed 4.
Big Red Quarry, employed 2.
Santa Cruz Quarry, employed 3.
Upper Red Quarry, employed 5.
| A corner in the Arizona Marble Co.’s quarry. (pp. 441) |  |
| Sullivan duplex channeler at Arizona marble quarry. (pp. 442) |  |
A fine panel of Arizona marble. (pp. 442) |
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| Blocks in the storage yard. (pp. 443) |  |
This marble quarry, reportedly one of the “one of the largest deposits of marble in the country,” was decried in the article, “Marble Quarrying in Arizona” (in PDF format). When the article was written in 1910, the color of the marble quarried was “white, with pronounced dark veinings, and a predominating flesh tint.” Prominent buildings constructed with this marble were: The First National Bank Building, Denver, Colo., and the bank buildings at Champaign, Ill., and Missoula, Montana. The location of the 1909/1910 deposit was described as follows: “The deposit now being worked is 14 miles from Olga Station, the shipping point (eight miles from Bowie), on the Southern Pacific Railway, and the last three miles of this distance are in the mountains.”
(1) Ashton Company, Various mine sites PC #2 (employed 17); (2) F N F Mining Co., A division of F N F Construction, operated a portable crusher (employed 20); (3) L. Sheldon & Company, Tombstone (employed 2); (4) Maddux & Sons, Inc., ADEQ 4052-94 Equipment #002 (employed 7); (5) Texas Canyon Rock & Sand (employed 4); (6) United Metro Materials, Plate 229 Sierra Vista (employed 8); (7) Young Block Co., Inc., Sierra Vista Sand Pit (employed 5).
"Located in Southeastern Arizona, Cross Spear Marble, Inc. (CSM) is located near the Chiricaua National Monument and the Fort Bowie National Historic Site on privately owned ranch. The working cattle ranch has been in operation since the 1880's. The quarry spans over 50 acres and contains five distinct veins of various colored marble and limestone. Once the marble and limestone are extracted from the quarry, CSM is capable of producing various sizes of rock for multiple customer needs.
"The Cross Spear Mine is an excellent deposit of marble and marbleized limestone along the western foothills of the historic Chiricahua mountains of southeastern Arizona.
"The deposit is extensive and contains several colors. It is on land owned by the Riggs family, long time ranchers in Willcox, Arizona.
"In the days when Apache Indians roamed the area, it is said that the famed Apache Chief, Cochise, stood on a mountain just above where the mine is located, noted the two canyons below crossed and he said they resembled a "cross spear." The mining venture took its name from this and became Cross Spear Marble, Inc.
"The deposit is mined by simple open pit methods. The marble is crushed and then sized with screens. Sizes range from boulders to nearly sand, depending upon what the customer wants. Several colors are available: white, natural red, gray, green, and black.
"A principle application of Cross Spear Marble products is stone for decorative landscaping. Another application is for compacted road surfacing. Future products include marble slabs, tile, terrazzo, and other high-end marble applications."
Cochise County, Arizona – Cross Spear Marble, Inc. Cross Spear Marble Quarry (present-day company) At the time of the report noted below for the year 2000, this company operated a marble quarry in Cochise County and employed 3 people at that quarry. (From Eighty-Ninth Annual Report For the Year 2000, Douglas K. Martin, Office of the Arizona State Mine Inspector.)
(1) Arizona Department of Transportation, Kolberg WO15 (employed 4); (2) C. S. McCrossan, Inc., PE 127 and portable equipment (employed 6); (3) J. R. Excavating Company, J. R. Aggregate Plant (employed 4); (4) United Metro Materials, Plant #337 / Gray Mountain (employed 7).
Apache Quarry, employed 1.
Coconino Quarry, employed 7.
Golden Buckskin-Drake, employed 4.
Mills Quarry, employed 71.
Santa Cruz Quarry, employed 8.
Black Cat Quarry, employed 13.
Appletree Quarries – Drake, employed 39.
Mary Lee Quarry – Drake, employed 9.
Nine Strike Quarry – Drake / Chi Chi, employed 8.
Oak Quarries – Ash Fork, employed 5.
Oak SW ¼ T23N, S 29, employed 5.
Red Quarry – Ash Fork, employed 2.
Red SW ¼, T 23N, R 3W, S 29, employed 4.
Bacon & Beans Quarry, employed 2.
Cucomunga Quarry, employed 6.
Jericho Quarry, employed 2.
Rock 2 Quarry, employed 2.
Above House Quarry, employed 4.
Million & Buff Grind Stone / Above House, employed 1.
Rosa Grind Stone, employed 1.
Rosa Quarry – Drake, employed 1.
Ferno Quarry, employed 2.
Hells Bells Quarry, employed 1.
John Brown Quarry, employed 14.
Paradise, employed 2.
(1) Dalmolin Excavating, B H P Pinto Valley (employed 6); (2) Gradeline Construction, Inc., Young Plant (employed 3); (3) Granite Construction Company, Portable Crusher #1717 (employed 6); (4) Payson Concrete & Materials, Crushing Plant (employed 3), Old Tonto Pit (employed 4), and Payson Plant (employed 2); (5) Tonto Redi-Mix, Inc., Tonto Pit #1 (employed 4); (6) United Metro Materials, Plant #602 Bixby Rd., Nugget Pit (employed 10), Plant 601 (employed 3); (7) United Metro Materials, Inc. (formerly Guzman Materials), Globe Plant (employed 20); (8) United Metro Materials Inc. (formerly Guzman Materials), Nugget Wash Plant (employed 20).
(1) W. A. Morris Sand & Gravel, Phelps Dodge Morenci (employed 15); (2) Oakcreek Contracting, Inc., Old Virden Highway Pit (employed 2); (3) Tipton Contracting, Tipton (employed 3).
(1) Ashton Company, Portable Crusher #19750 PC #1 (employed 5); and (2) La Paz County Public Works, Cibola Pit - ADEQ 100981 (employed 6).
(1) A & A Materials, Inc., A & A Screening Plant, Apache Junction (employed 3); (2) Ajax Sand & Rock, 51st Avenue (Ajax Contracting) (employed 3); (3) Cemex U S A (formerly Sunward Materials), Sun City Plant #77 (employed 18), El Mirage (employed 2), Lehi Plant (employed 3), Plant #71 (Mesa) (employed 30), Sun City Plant #67 (employed 10), West Plant #72 (employed 22); (4) F N F Mining Co., a division of F N F Construction, 79-03 (employed 5); (5) Hanson Aggregates of Arizona (formerly Pioneer Concrete), San Domingo/aggragate (sic), Wickenburg (employed 1; (6) Kilauea Crushers, Plant 2 / Jomax Plant (employed 3); (7) Mesa Materials, Inc., Mesa Plant (employed 25) and Sun Materials Plant #2 (employed 15); (8) New West Materials, PC #2 (employed 10), Portable Crusher #3 (employed 4), West Phoenix (employed 12); (9) Phoenix San Man, Goodyear Plant #13 (employed 4); (10) Quackenbush Construction Corp., Parker Mine (employed 2); (11) Rainbow Enterprises, 75th Avenue Pit and plant No. 2 (employed 2); (12) Salt River Sand and Rock, Beeline Plant #1 (employed 32), Dobson Plant (employed 144), Glendale Plant (employed 15), Higley Road Plant (employed 28), Sun City Plant (employed 28); (13) South West Sand & Gravel, Inc., South West Sand & Gravel Pit (employed 7); (14) Southwest Rock Products, Queen Creek (employed 2); (15) Sun State Rock & Materials, Plant 1, 115th and Beardsley (employed 29), Plant 6, North Central Avenue (employed 4); (16) Sun Valley Mining Company (aka Superstition Crushing), various locations (employed 6); (17) Superstition Crushing, L L C, # 18 (employed 6), #22 (employed 5), PC #17 (employed 6), Portable 11 / #21 (employed 5); (18) T. R. P. L. L. C., Plant #1 & #2 (employed 5); (19) United Metro Materials, Plant 113 / Cave Creek & Peak View Rd. (employed 1), Plant #106, employed 8, UM Plant 111/3640 S 19th Ave. (employed 39), UM Plant 112 (employed 5), UM Plant 2 / Beeline & McDowell (employed 5); (20) Vulcan Materials, CalMat Div., Phoenix Plant #32 (employed 20), Plant 12 - Sun City (employed 36), Plant 24 - Litchfield (employed 22).
(1) Cox Rock Products, Lake Havasu Pit (employed 4); (2) Desert Construction, Inc., Hualapai Pit - Rosslynn Rd. Pit (employed 7); (3) Dick Merritt Consruction, Sacramento Mine (employed 2); (4) F N F Mining Co., A division of F N F Construction, 71-09 (employed 8); (5) Kiewit Western Co., Crusher #2 ADEQ 1000470 (employed 7); (6) Kingman Redi-Mix, Airport Drive (employed 1); (7) McCall Construction, McCall pit (employed 4); (8) Mohave Concrete & Materials, Fort Mohave Indian Reservation (employed 7), Kingman Plant (employed 7), Lake Havasu Plant (employed 3), Oatman Road Plant (employed 7); (9) Precision Aggregate Products, LLC, Hidden Valley (employed 6); (10) Southern Arizona Paving & Construction Company, Aztec Materials Quarry (employed 1); (11) T & F Enterprises, Pit 101 (employed 1); (12) Tri-R Construction, Pass Canyon/Silver Creek (employed 3); (13) United Metro Materials, Bullhead City, Plant 882 Bull Head Parkway (employed 10), Plant 882 Fort Mohave Aztec Road (employed 6); (14) Walker Trucking (employed 2).
(1) Brimhall Sand, Rock & Building Materials, Inc., Brimhall Pit (employed 3), Cottonwood Wash Pit (employed 15), and Hardluck Pit (employed 16); (2) Cholla Ready Mix, Perkins Perkins Valley Pit (employed 3), Woodruff Butte (employed 6); (3) Dyna Rock, Chevelon (employed 2); (4) Fisher Industries, Southwest Division, Anderson Pit (employed 10); (5) Hatch Construction & Paving, Inc., 4 Mile Pit & Plant (employed 3) and Ellsworth Pit, Crushing Plant (employed 15); and (6) Reidhead Sand & Rock, Inc., Reidhead Sand & Rock (employed 5).
(1) C. S. McCrossan, Inc., M-555, PE 353 (employed 9); (2) Cemex USA, Apex Plant (employed 13), Ina Road Plant #23 (employed 30), Pima Mine Plant #117 (employed 11); (3) Excalibur Excavating, Inc., Sunset Pit (employed 3); (4) Granite Construction Company, Swan Road Pit (employed 20), Tangerine Pit (employed 20), and other various mine sites portable equipment (employed 22); (5) Sierrita Ranching & Mining, McGee Ranch (employed 5); (6) Tucson Ready Mix, Inc., Valencia Plant 64 (employed 3); (7) United Metro Materials, Plant 223 Cortaro (employed 28); and (8) Valley Rock & Sand Co., McCann Pitt (employed 4).
Pima, Arizona – Limestone Operation Leased by Georgia Marble, of Kennesaw, Georgia, from Specialty Minerals Inc. (SMI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Minerals Technologies Inc. Georgia Marble signed a "long-term lease of SMI's limestone operation in Pima, Arizona" in October, 1997. (From "Specialty Minerals Inc. and The Georgia Marble Company Enter Leasing Agreement for SMI's Arizona Limestone Operation," October 29, 1997. (The link from which the following information was obtained is no longer available.)
<http://www.shareholder.com/minerals/news/102997g.cfm>The SMI operation at Pima produced limestone primarily "for use in industrial applications such as construction and paint." The operation is in the Helvita Mining District of Arizona. Also in the Helvita Mining District at Vail, Arizona, is another limestone operation owned by Georgia Marble at the time of this agreement to lease SMI's limestone operation at Pima.
The article mentions that at that time Georgia Marble was "a leading producer of high quality limestone products with operations in the northeast, southeast and western United States."
“The Southern Pacific Railroad is looking into the matter of running a track in Pima Co., California,* to open up remarkably fine marble deposits in that county. The tract is some ten miles from the railroad, thirty miles from Tucson.”
(* Should be Arizona rather than California.)
(1) Cemex USA (formerly Sunward Materials), Port. Crush #2314/#50/Queen Ck (employed 45), Queen Creek Plant 75 (employed 11); (2) Kalamazoo Materials, New Superior (employed 8); (3) Martin Group (employed 3); (4) Oliver Mining Company, Coolidge Pit (employed 5), and Queen Creek Pit (employed 5); (5) San Xavier Rock & Materials, Catalina Wet Plant (employed 10); (6) Superstition Crushing, L.L.C, #16 (employed 4), #15 (employed 6); (7) United Metro Materials, Plant 226 Catalina (employed 2), UM Plant 48 / Hwy. 93 2 mi. N. of Casa Blanca (employed 27), UM Plant 49 / 2305 S. Rooftile Rd., Casa Grande (employed 13), Winkleman / Superior Plant 546 (employed 5); and (8) United Metro Plant #640 (Formerly Clark Trucking), Mammoth Plant #640 & River Road Pit (employed 12).
(1) C. S. McCrossan, Inc., PE-185 (employed 2); (2) Coronado Group, L.L.C. (formerly J D 1, Inc.), Rio Rico Plant (employed 6); (3) Padilla Sand & Gravel Redi Mix, Inc., Agua Fria Plant (employed 7); (4) Padilla Sand and Rock, Agua Fria Plant (employed 2); and (5) United Metro Materials dba San Xavier, Plant 228 Nogales (employed 2).
Pima, Arizona – Limestone Operation Leased by Georgia Marble, of Kennesaw, Georgia, from Specialty Minerals Inc. (SMI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Minerals Technologies Inc. (From "Specialty Minerals Inc. and The Georgia Marble Company Enter Leasing Agreement for SMI's Arizona Limestone Operation," October 29, 1997.)
This announcement also mentions that Georgia Marble had another limestone operation in the Helvita Mining District at Vail, Arizona. At that time Georgia Marble was "a leading producer of high quality limestone products with operations in the northeast, southeast and western United States."
White Mountains, Arizona – the Cedar Creek Stone Quarries, LLC, Sandstone Quarry (photographs) located in the White Mountains of Arizona just off the I-40 corridor (present-day company)
(1) Bell Enterprises, Sanders Pit (employed 2); (2) Central Mtn. Materials, L.L.C., Mortimer Mine (employed 3); (3) Dunbar Stone, Perkins Pit (employed 1); (4) Earth Products (employed 16); (5) Granite Mountain Materials, Dosie Pit (employed 2); (6) Hanson Aggregates of Arizona (formerly Pioneer Concrete), Clarkdale Pit (employed 13); (7) Hoss & Son, Star Placer (employed 1); (8) Meadow Valley Contractors, Inc., Prescott Valley Pit 8 (employed 15) and Pit 9, Chino Valley (employed 7); (9) Superior Companies, Cherry Pit (employed 4); (10) Superstition Crushing, L L C, Star Placer Pit (employed 9); (11) United Metro Materials, Plant #550 (employed 3), Plant #556 Cp. Verde Superi (employed 10), Plant 556 Camp Verde - Cherry Pit (employed 20); (12) United Verde Materials, United Verde Pit (employed 3); (13) Vastco, Inc., Del Rio Pit (employed 2); and (14) Wheeler Construction, Inc., Ash Fork Pit (employed 12).
(1) B T Z dba Zellers Excavating & Paving, Black, Hill Mine (employed 14); (2) Meadow Valley Contractors, Inc., PC (employed 10); and (3) W & L Inc., W & L Pit (employed 7).
"Lynn's Inn Bed & Breakfast, listed on the National Historic Register, is centrally located in Flagstaff, just a short walk to the Downtown Main Street Historic District. This unique (Victorian) sandstone two-story homestead style home was built in 1902 from materials excavated from a local (sandstone) quarry by the England family."
The building of the capitol was built with Arizona stone. The foundation was built using Malapai rock from Camelback Mountain; the first floor was built with granite from South Mountain; and the second, third, and fourth floors were built with tuff (or tufa-stone) from Yavapai County. (The Teacher Resource Guide covers the history of Arizona, including the Arizona State Capitol.)
At Wupatki National Monument, the buildings in the historic district are made of the red Early Triassic (locally quarried) Moenkopi sandstone.
Santa Ana, Orange County, California – the old Orange County Courthouse (Photograph) [(c) Mark H. Shapiro, used by permission.] (Below is one of the photographs of the old Orange County Courthouse taken by Mark Shapiro, and they are presented on webshots.com by Mark Shapiro. There are a total 7 photographs of the courthouse in the album.)
| “The old Orange County Courthouse at 211 West Santa Ana Blvd. in Santa Ana, CA. Constructed of Arizona red sandstone and granite in 1900, it is the oldest courthouse building in southern California.” [(c) Mark H. Shapiro, used by permission.] |  |
The following text below was taken from a plaque mounted on a boulder at the Orange County Courthouse:
“Orange County Courthouse built in 1900 of Arizona red sandstone, this is the oldest existing county courthouse in southern California. Significant and far-reaching court decisions were handed down here, including the ‘Whipstock’ case which dealt with slant oil drilling, interpretation of farm labor law, and the Overell trial resulting in law regulating explosives.
“California Registered Historical Landmark 837
“Plaque placed by the Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Orange County Board of Supervisors and Let’s Improve Santa Ana (U.S.A.)
“March 11, 1970”
Denver, Colorado - the First National Bank Building
According to the article, “Marble Quarrying in Arizona” (in PDF format) (published in Mine and Quarry magazine, Sullivan Machinery Co., Publisher, Chicago, Illinois, Vol. V., No. 2, October 1910, pp. 440-443), the first National Bank building in Denver, Colorado, and the bank buildings at Champaign, Illinois, and Missoula, Montana, were constructed of this Arizona marble.
According to the article, “Marble Quarrying in Arizona” (in PDF format) (published in Mine and Quarry magazine, Sullivan Machinery Co., Publisher, Chicago, Illinois, Vol. V. No. 2, October 1910, pp. 440-443), the first National Bank building in Denver, Colorado, and the bank buildings at Champaign, Illinois, and Missoula, Montana, were constructed of this Arizona marble.
Missoula, Montana – Bank Building in Missoula, Montana
According to the article, “Marble Quarrying in Arizona” (in PDF format) (published in Mine and Quarry magazine, Sullivan Machinery Co., Publisher, Chicago, Illinois, Vol. V. No. 2, October 1910, pp. 440-443), the first National Bank building in Denver, Colorado, and the bank buildings at Champaign, Illinois, and Missoula, Montana, were constructed of this Arizona marble.
Washington, D.C. - the Washington Monument Memorial Stones - the Arizona Memorial Stone, presented by the National Park Service (photograph and history)
The National Park Service web site presents the memorial stones in placed in the interior of the Washington Monument. The Arizona Memorial Stone can be viewed on the National Park Service’s web site in either the “Album” or the “Slide Show.”
The information and photograph of the stone from Alaska for the Washington Monument can found in “WAMO Stones Section 5.”
Below is an description that was available on the National Park Service web site in January 2008 that describes the Memorial Stones in the Washington Monument.
“A unique feature of the Washington Monument is the 193 memorial stones that adorn the interior of the monument. Starting in July 1848 the Washington National Monument Society invited states, cities and patriotic societies to contribute Memorial Stones. The Society listed some requirements to be followed. They asked that the stone be durable, a product of the state’s soil, and meet the following dimensions; four feet long, two feet high and 18 inches thick. These stones pay tribute to the character and achievements of George Washington. These traits are not only admired by Americans but by people the world over as seen by the number of stones donated by foreign countries....”
“While viewing the stones please keep in mind that the Washington Monument has undergone extensive renovation over the last three years. A key component of the project has been the restoration of the memorial stones. Over the years the stones have been damaged by moisture and vandalism. The pictures that follow show the condition of the stones before their restoration. In the upcoming months new images will be added highlighting the restored stones.”
The following information regarding the stone and photograph of the stone from Alaska in the Washington Monument can be found in WAMO Stones Section 5:
“4. Later Installations, 1913-2000
“In 1911, prompted by the fact that many western states were not represented in the monument, the Washington National Monument Society sent letters to these states requesting stones and providing instructions on size and guidelines for appearance (Figure 15). Between 1913 and 1928, Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas, South Dakota, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Idaho sent stones that were installed between the 290-ft. and 400-ft. levels.”
Name: Arizona
Level: 320-ft.
Donor: State of Arizona
Dates: 1924/1924
Original materials: petrified wood, resin fills, gold leaf in letters
Dimensions: 2’ x 4’ 10”
Sculptor/Carver: not known
Original inscription: Arizona
Documented material history:
• 1920: “There seems to have been trouble in orating [should be crating?] the rough stone for shipment to Los Angeles where it was to be cut and polished.” [MR]
• 1924: “The patriotic work entrusted to us, the Daughters of the American Revolution of Arizona by our governor and State Legislature of financing and placing of Arizona’s State stone of petrified wood in the Washington Monument...was completed on Tuesday, April 15, 1924.” [Nina Roberts Smith, “Report of Arizona State Regent,” in Proceedings of the Thirty-third Continental Congress of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Washington, DC, April 14-19, 1924, p. 227.]
• 1939: “...[The Arizona stone] consists of three united cross sections of polished petrified wood with the word ‘Arizona’ written horizontally across the whole and the letters painted with gold leaf. It was seen that the lettering does not now have its original brightness and really needs renewal or freshening up a bit.” [“Arizona’s Contribution to the Washington Monument,” Extension of remarks of Hon. John R. Murdock of Arizona in the House of Representatives, February 15, 1939, Appendix to the Congressional Record, p. 542.]
• 1939: “The Arizona Society of Washington, in conjunction with the National Park Service, will reletter the Arizona stone in the Washington Monument at 2 p.m. Saturday.” [“To Re-Letter Stone,” newspaper clipping, February 16, 1939 ; Entry 452, RG 42, NAB.]
Additional documented material information: “The three logs of petrified wood come from the Chalcedony Forest, Holbrook, Arizona.” [MR]
Images:
• 1957 Allen photograph
• 1974 photograph
• 1980 photograph
(None available at this time.)
Commercial use of material within this site is strictly prohibited. It is not to be captured, reworked, and placed inside another web site. © . All rights reserved. Peggy B. and George (Pat) Perazzo.