GMS Field Trip

GMS Field Trip
Granite in Georgia
Monday, February 20, 2017

Elberton, GA is known as the granite capital of the world. There are a multitude of quarries and processing plants as well as a granite museum. GMS members were eager to go there, so this trip had to be scheduled on a week day. Fortunately, we were able to pick President's Day, a Monday when these places were open and many members had the day off.

The first of 5 locations we visited was a granite quarry. From a safe distance we watched as a large block of granite was broken away from the quarry wall and lifted up and onto a truck. Quarrying techniques have changed over time. The block we saw was removed using a "wire saw" as well as carefully applied heat. Another wall in the quarry was processed with an older technique where several vertical holes were drilled, then a block was pried away. The drill marks are still visible on the quarry wall.

The second stop on the tour was a "block yard" where we got to see large blocks of granite from all over the world. The owners of the company explained the qualities of different blocks and where the stones were from. We saw blocks from Norway, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and India as well as North Dakota and even some blocks from the Atlanta area!

The third stop was a processing plant. They use huge circular saws as well as wire saws to cut blocks like we saw at the quarry and the block yard. Then they split large slabs into smaller slabs, polish the slabs, and engrave them. Everyone got to pick out a large and small core removed from some granite being processed that day.

The fourth stop was the Elberton Granite Museum. We watched a video about Elberton granite, then explored the many displays about granite, how it is quarried and processed, as well as many historic artifacts from the Elberton granite industry.

Our final stop was outside another processing plant. Field trip chair Charles Carter made special arrangements for us to collect pieces of counter top material left over after large pieces are trimmed. There was a tremendous variety of material available. It was difficult to choose, but we managed to collect plenty for lapidary use, garden use, just because it looks cool use, and a whole lot for grab bags too!

Many thanks to the Elberton Granite Association for arranging so many tours for us as well as providing transportation. We are also very grateful to the quarry, block yard, and processing plants for allowing us to visit.

Lori Carter
On behalf of Charles Carter, GMS Field Trip Chair
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