From Quarry to Cemetery Monuments
Monumental Works & Shops, Tools & Equipment, & Monument Displays
Monumental Works & Shops
Monument companies used their shops and yards to display cemetery monuments to their customers. Another method used to sell their stock further away was to send traveling agents to other communities carrying samples of their cemetery stones overland by wagon. Large companies, such as the Vermont Marble Company or the Georgia Marble Company opened branch offices to make their stones available in San Francisco and other large cities.
Pioneer Granite & Marble Works, Joseph B. Wallace, Prop., 3618, Stockton (?), San Joaquin County, California (photograph; early 1900s) |
 Speh Monument Co., Affton, Missouri |
Pineville Marble and Granite Works, Louisiana (postcard photo)
Below are two photographs of the Excelsior Marble Works in San Jose taken during the late 1870’s, a copy of one of the Excelsior Marble Works Advertisements when it was operated by Alexander DeLong and John W. Combs. Also presented below is one of Frederick Field’s business cards. Once Frederick Field arrived in San Jose from Dorset, Vermont, he became a partner in the business, eventually purchasing the the business. Field operated the Excelsior Marble Works until his death in November 1887. (These photographs are a part of the Sourisseau Academy collection in San Jose, California, and are used with permission.)
Excelsior Marble Works, San Jose, California, circa late 1870s, when it was operated by Frederick Field, John W. Combs, and J. M. Gregory (photo used with permission of the Sourisseau Academy) |
Cemetery Monument Display Yard of the Excelsior Marble Works, San Jose, California, circa late 1870s, when it was operated by Frederick Field, John W. Combs, and J. M. Gregory (photo used with permission of the Sourisseau Academy) |
 Excelsior Marble Works, San Jose, Advertisement, when it was run by Alexander De Long & John W. Combs (1871-1872) |
Business Card of Frederick Field, San Jose, California (circa 1870s/1880s) |
If you’re interested in learning more about Frederick Field’s Excelsioir Marble Works and viewing photographs of cemetery stones signed by with his company name – either “F. Field, San Jose” or “Excelsior Marble Works, San Jose” – you can do so in the “Frederick Field” section of the “Historical Stone Carvers, Stone Cutters, & Monument Dealers” section of this web site.
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