Page 2 - Pickens Marble Trail

Chattanooga
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Later in the 1830s, Samuel Tate came to the area and quickly recognized an Atlanta What do the communities of Pickens County, Georgia have in common with
opportunity to invest in Georgia marble’s potential. He bought extensive land 20 20 many famous cultural sites and households around the world? The answer lies
and mineral rights. About the quarries he purchased, he told his son, “They may in a story that began about 541 million years ago with oceanfront property in the
not make me rich and they won’t make you rich, but they will surely make your 85 75 North Georgia Mountains.
children rich.” Macon
185 At that time, the earth’s fiery crust rose up from the sea to form the Appalachian
Mountains. When the waters receded, beachheads appeared with tiny shells
That prophesy was realized by his grandson, Col. Sam Tate. He became the 16
managing officer of the Georgia Marble Company, formed in 1884 by wealthy 75 of prehistoric sea organisms. Plates of tectonic rock collided and compressed
those organisms to form the gorgeous and elegant Georgia Marble we know
businessmen from Chicago. Through Sam Tate’s leadership, the company 520 280 Savannah today. The vein of stone extended five to seven miles long, a half-mile wide, and
thrived, mining marble from Tate’s vast holdings of the vein of beautiful North 82 2,000 feet deep.
Georgia rock. Because of these holdings, Sam Tate became recognized as one 84 95
of the wealthiest men in the world, with an estimated worth of $165 billion! 82 This metamorphic rock lay untouched for many years until humans discovered
it. As early as 800 A.D. Native Americans, including the Cherokee people, used
From 1900 through the Roaring Twenties, sales of Georgia Marble soared, 84 and traded marble. In 1957, two marble effigies circa 1300 A.D. were found at
with architects favoring it for both its durability and beauty. The Lincoln the Etowah Indian Mounds. These statues, along with marble bowls and small
Memorial statue in Washington, D.C. was carved from Georgia Marble in 1918. round marbles (actually made of marble!), are valuable connections to ancient
In fact, more than 60% of the monuments in Washington, D.C. are made from indigenous cultures.
Pickens County marble. Then, during the Great Depression, Col. Sam Tate kept Georgia Marble Beyond Pickens County
the Georgia Marble Co. workforce employed by donating tons of marble to Irish stonemason Henry Fitzsimmons arrived in Pickens County in the mid-1830s.
noteworthy building projects throughout the area, state, and nation. Pickens County marble has been used on such landmarks as the New York According to legend, Fitzsimmons stopped at one of the Cherokee taverns
along the Old Federal Road. After dining and drinking one night, he became
Stock Exchange; the Lincoln Memorial, the Library of Congress’ James rowdy and was thrown out the door. Arising from an unpleasant landing, he
Today it is very likely that the lives of most people have been touched in some Madison Memorial Public Library, the Folger Shakespeare Library, The discovered the hard rock outcropping he landed on was beautiful and gleami
way by Georgia Marble. Elegant buildings, monuments, and sculpture continue National Air and Space Museum, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, all in in the moonlight. Thus began the local marble industry!
to be created for the world to see. Interestingly though, it is the calcium Washington, D.C.; and, in Atlanta, the Fulton County Courthouse, Emory
products from pulverized stone that appear in many homes. From tires to paints, University’s Alumni Memorial University Center, and what is now The
food supplements, pharmaceuticals, and chewing gum, the marble of Pickens Candler Hotel.
County helps us live our lives and fulfill our dreams. Henry Fitzsimmons
About an hour’s drive south of Jasper, in Cartersville, Georgia, the
Mississippian culture built the Etowah community between 1,000-1,500
A.D., complete with ceremonial mounds, a village, plots of land devoted
to farming, a wood and mud palisade, and defensive ditches outside the
wall. A matched male/female pair of effigy statues carved from marble were
found at the site in 1957 and are displayed in the museum at the Etowah
Indian Mounds Historic Site.

Col. Sam Tate About 65 miles west of Jasper, at James H. “Sloppy” Floyd State Park, you
can hike the Marble Mine Trail to an abandoned mine entrance and trickling
waterfall into a beautiful lake.

104 North Main St, Suite A-1 • Jasper, GA 30143
(770) 893-7940
pickensartsandculturalalliance.org