Granite memorials from Elberton, Georgia

Elberton calls itself the Granite Capital of the World. Mize Granite Sales, Inc. sells granite monuments and memorials from here.

Call (706) 283-6700 Send a note instead

Fax (706) 283-4875

A pale granite quarry wall cut in tall benches, with a zigzag of ladders down its face — A working granite quarry wall at Barre, Vermont. Stock photograph, as are all photos on this page.

If you have just lost someone

Nothing needs deciding today. A memorial is usually ordered weeks or months after the funeral, when the family is ready.

Before choosing a design, call the cemetery office. Many cemeteries set rules on size, stone and foundations, and those rules narrow the choice quickly.

When you call us, have the cemetery name, the section if you know it, and the names and dates to be inscribed.

Long straight rows of white upright markers on mown grass in front of a pine line — Georgia National Cemetery, Canton. Cemeteries like this one allow only one kind of marker.

A small worn headstone with moss on its top, a pot of pink flowers at its foot — Flowers left at an old grave.

From quarry wall to cemetery

A memorial starts as a block split from bedrock. It is sawn into slabs, polished, cut to shape, lettered through a rubber stencil and set on a foundation.

These photographs come from quarries and sheds in Vermont, Sweden and India, and a lettering job at the Grand Canyon. They show the process, not Mize Granite's own work.

A quarry face scored with evenly spaced vertical drill lines — Drill lines on a quarry face. Blocks are freed along rows of holes. Rixö, Sweden.

Broken granite blocks piled at the foot of a quarry face — Waste stone at the foot of the face. Rixö, Sweden.

Rough grey granite blocks with painted marks lined up in a stone yard — Rough blocks in a yard, marked for cutting. Andhra Pradesh, India.

A granite block sitting between the two yellow wheels of a wire saw — A wire saw cuts a block into slabs. Andhra Pradesh, India.

A long red polishing machine running over grey slabs inside a steel shed — A polishing line works the sawn face to a shine. Andhra Pradesh, India.

The floor of a large stone finishing shed with benches, carts and slabs — Inside a finishing shed. Barre, Vermont.

A worker bent over a lit bench, finishing a piece of dark granite — Hand finishing at a bench. Barre, Vermont.

A man cutting letters out of a rubber stencil laid over a granite block — Rubber stencil laid on the stone; letters are cut out by hand. Barre, Vermont.

A worker in a red hood and blast suit sandblasting letters through a stencil — Blasting cuts the exposed letters while the rubber protects the rest. Grand Canyon, Arizona.

Stencil rubber being peeled back to show cut letters on a stone — Peeling the stencil shows the finished letters. Grand Canyon, Arizona.

A backhoe in a cemetery beside rows of new granite stones — Setting stones in a cemetery. Washington, D.C.

Scroll or swipe sideways for the rest.

See a name on the stone

Type a name and pick a granite. This is a rough preview on photographs of stone; colour varies from block to block, so ask to see a sample before ordering.

First line Second line

Lettering on light stone is often tinted so it reads from a distance. On darker stone the blasted letter shows pale.