Our Boston Granite Exchange team travels the world, personally visiting stone quarries in search of the most beautiful stone available. We source it and bring it home to our New England showrooms for it to be chosen to become a stunning focal point in homes like yours. During our travels we are fortunate to see some amazing places and often discover very interesting backstories about the places we visit and the “birthplaces” of the stones.
We travel far and wide to source our natural stone, but the Danby Quarry in Dorset, Vermont is the quarry closest to home. It has a couple of other superlatives to its credit, as well: it’s the oldest operating quarry in the United States and it’s the largest underground marble quarry in the world. The quarry was recently featured on Chronicle.
Danby marble is known the world over for its beauty and strength. You’ve likely seen examples of it in museums and monuments. The pillars of the Supreme Court Building and the outer stone of the Jefferson Memorial are all Danby marble. Danby marble is often the choice for dimensional work like buildings and monuments because it is one of the hardest marbles in the world. Last year, we supplied Danby Olympian marble to the Christian Science World Headquarters in Boston for a renovation that replaced some of the original Danby that was used when the building was built over a century ago. Danby marble is an excellent choice for home use as well. It can be used for stunning marble kitchen countertops, elegant backsplashes, statement-making bar tops, fireplace surrounds or flooring. Almost anything you can imagine.
The adventure to visit the quarry is one we enjoy. When the quarry began operation around the turn of the 20th century, the entrance was carved out of the mountain, and we still use that entrance today. When we arrive, we literally drive into the side of the mountain and then travel 1.5 miles down into the quarry. The mean temperature there is 50°F 365 days of the year – a fun fact we’ve learned in our years of visiting there.
Once there, we handpick each of the marble stone slabs we love and think that you will love. The slabs are then cut out of the mountain: first, horizontal cuts are made into the marble then vertical cuts, then they are sliced into manageable slabs using diamond studded cables. Once they are cut into slabs, they are finished right on site – polished or honed – and are ready for transport to our Boston Granite Exchange showrooms.
There are several types of Danby marble. Among the best known and most popular are Imperial, Olympian and Mountain White. Boston Granite Exchange showcases all of these beautiful Danby marble designs in our showrooms. We invite you to visit one of our showrooms and see the many beautiful natural stones and quartz we carry. Be sure to look for Danby marble and see its beauty close up now that you know the story behind the stone.