Marble Colorado

Yule marble is a famous marble found in the Elk Mountains of western Colorado. This marble was discovered in the late 1870’s by prospectors in search of silver and gold, and quickly became famous for its pure white consistency.

Situated along the Yule Creek near the upper reaches of the Crystal River valley, the narrow valley and rugged terrain have repeatedly hampered quarry efforts since its discovery. The quarry itself is located on a steep mountainside, with numerous avalanche zones in the area, making winter access extremely treacherous at best.

First exhibited in1893 at the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, it soon became widely known as a commercial product. Shortly thereafter, in 1899, the town of Marble, Colorado was incorporated.

The transformation of this incredibly picturesque mountain valley began in the early 1900‘s. A three mile railroad spur from the town to the quarry was completed in 1905. Thanks to the new marble boom, the town reached its zenith around 1915, with approximately 4,000 residents, many of them Italian and Austrian immigrants who just happened to be skilled marble workers. With two hotels, a movie theater and two newspapers, it was Colorado’s third largest industrialized city of that era.

The boom, as most are, was destined for failure. Thanks to World War I, an event causing the local immigrants to return to Europe and fight for their homelands, the marble economy collapsed, only experiencing increased activity in the 1930’s. However, that activity was short-lived as well when World War II effectively shut the quarry down.

High prices for scrap steel, compliments of that era’s war policy, caused much of the quarry’s mechanical infrastructure, including materials from its power and fabricating plants and trolley lines, to be stripped and sold as scrap metal. It shut down in 1941, and remained that way for over half a century.

Colorado’s Yule marble is one of the purest marbles ever quarried, being 99.5% pure calcite. Because of its white consistency, lacking the abundant gray streaking found in many other marbles throughout the country, it is favored by many sculptors and has been used for a number of famous national and historic landmarks.

The Tomb of the Unknowns (Tomb of the Unknown Soldier) in Arlington National Cemetery is perhaps the marble’s most famous destination. A 56-ton block of marble was required for the tomb and, at that time, Yule quarry marble was the only marble available in a solid block of the size required.  The first major installation of Yule marble was on the Colorado State Capital building, in 1895. It has also been used on the Lincoln Memorial and New York City’s Equitable Building.

Since its inception,the quarry has changed ownership frequently and is currently owned by a Canadian corporation. Thanks to corporate policy and federal regulations, the quarry site is no longer available for public viewing. Additionally, any unauthorized persons who trespass onto quarry property will be prosecuted, and anyone injured while on quarry property may suffer a like prosecutorial experience.

The quarry reopened in the early 1990’s, now providing a product for international clients as well as high end national applications.