Rock of Ages

Rock of Ages in Graniteville, Vermont processes Barre Gray granite into slabs for use in buildings, industrial granite and monuments. Many of the employees are multi-generational and take great pride in the pieces they craft.

The E. L. Smith Quarry is about 600 feet deep, covers 50 square acres of surface area and has two pools of water that are over several hundred feet deep. It was opened in 1883 and purchased in the 1940s by Rock of Ages. The water is used while cutting the granite to keep the stone dust down and the equipment cool.

Each year 175,000 cubic feet of granite is cut. The quarry operates onlynine months of the year due to the cold Vermont winters.Granite is cut into blocks 30 x 40 x 20 feet weighing 1200 to 1400 tons using diamond wire saws. Holes are drilled in rows five feet apart and wedges are inserted to break the granite into 5 x 5 x 10 feet blocks, weighing about 22 tons each.

The blocks are lifted by derricks and taken to the block yard. The derricks are capable of lifting up to 250 tons. The blocks are labeled identifying the specific location it came from. This is useful when more than one block of granite is used in a monument, the uniformity of shade and style can be maintained.

The granite is cut into even smaller sizes when an order comes in and is polished to remove the black rust stains. Flaming (using fire) and sandblasting are two techniques used. The granite is inspected at each step and graded on quality.

Each artist is highly skilled. Great care and detail is taken to ensure the best product is produced that will last for many years.