Track 9 STONE 2, Presentation 3

Development of the Vermont Marble Industry and the Vermont Marble Company: 1780-1940 

Alicia L. Svenson, AIA 

MA Candidate in Public History, Northeastern University 

asvenson@gmail.com

Quarrying has been an important industry in Vermont since the late 1700s. The state’s largest marble deposits are located in a long band centered around Rutland, which produces primarily white and gray marbles. The first known commercial marble quarry in Vermont was opened circa 1785 at the base of Mt. Aeolus near Dorset. Interest in Classical and Greek styles, particularly for gravestones and other funerary monuments in the 1780-1850 period, helped drive the national demand for marble. Between 1785 and 1841 nine additional quarries were opened in the region. New developments in quarrying technology allowed for easier extraction of stone from the 1850s onward, and the introduction of new methods of transportation – canals and railroads – allowed marble to travel farther and farther from the quarry. Better transportation provided access to larger markets and led to a dramatic increase in the number of quarries in the state after 1851. In the 1880s large marble companies were formed that absorbed smaller competitors, closed less productive quarries, and opened new quarries to access stone deep below the surface. Marble from Vermont began to compete nationally with imported marble and marble from other U.S. regions.

A survey of commercial quarries published by the U.S. Geological Service in 1912 reveals that by 1910, the Vermont Marble Company had developed a near-monopoly over the Vermont quarry industry. The Vermont Marble Company built its own railroad network to transport stone from the quarry to marble mills also owned by the company. By bringing finishing work for monuments and building stones in-house they were able to cut out distributors and sell their product directly to clients. The company set up its own distribution network, with offices in in major markets such as Boston, New York, Toledo, Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco. In addition to their Vermont quarries, the company opened new quarries in Colorado, Montana, and Alaska and made exclusive distribution deals with other stone producers in the United States to become one of the largest marble suppliers in the country.

Using archival sources, government geological data, and GIS maps of quarry locations, this presentation will explore the forces driving early historical development of the marble industry in Vermont, the struggle to create a market for domestic marble, and the rise to prominence of the Vermont Marble Company within the national building stone industry. 

Alicia Svenson is a doctoral student in History at Northeastern University. Before arriving at Northeastern she worked as a preservation specialist for architectural design and historic preservation consulting firms in New York and Boston. She is interested in the intersection of construction and architecture, particularly around the development and marketing of building materials.