Granite Historical Society - Historic Marker

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Granite Historic Marker

The Granite Historic Marker is located at the corner of Sylvan Dell Lane and Old Court Road (MD 125) in the heart of Granite, Maryland. The site and plaque were erected by the Granite Historical Society in 1996 with extensive help from the community, including the following:

Dick and Jackie Hall, donation of the land used for the site;
Edrich Nurseries, donation of landscaping;
Merkle Monuments, supplier of the bronze plaque; and
Christmas in Granite, Inc., partial funding for the plaque.

The marker is attached to a large granite boulder, once used in the quarrying industry, and reads:

Some of the finest granite on the North American continent was quarried in this area for over a century. The village of Granite was first named Waltersville, after the Walters/Blunt family who founded the local quarrying industry circa 1820. The two largest quarries were Waltersville and Fox Rock. These and smaller quarries counted hundreds of stonecutters among their employees. One of the most important uses was for America's first railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio. This construction included the famous Thomas Viaduct, a vital link between Baltimore and Washington. The quality of this stone led to its use in such buildings as the Library of Congress, the inner walls of the Washington Monument, Old Patent Office, and the Baltimore Custom House. Local granite was the choice for foundations, gateposts, garden walls, cemetery monuments, churches, and schools. Many homes, still seen nearby, housed the hardy workmen and their families forming a community proudly named for its most famous natural resource, granite.

Granite was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

ERECTED BY THE GRANITE HISTORICAL SOCIETY—1996

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