Sylacauga History Fact
Presented by Bettye Lessley
SYLACAUGA'S MARBLE CASTLE IS GONE Prior to 1940 many of the men who were employed by the local marble quarries were making marble markers for the graves of America's soldiers. These markers were to be a certain size, and they had to meet specifications. They had to be perfect. However, sometimes a stone would be chipped and could not be used as a tombstone. Although these stones, plus the footstones were made of the finest Alabama marble, they were put aside, and the pile of rejected markers grew larger. Mr. L. L. Smith, a Sylacauga banker, bought the discarded tombstones and had a very beautiful but expensive looking filling station built, probably the only one like it in the world. When the men were carving the marble markers, they had no idea that their work would be displayed in a filling station. They were making tombstones for soldiers. For many years tourists driving through Sylacauga on what is now known as the "Old Sylacauga Highway" could not have missed this advertisement for Sylacauga marble. They might have stopped for gasoline, oil, a new tire, a snack or a cold drink. Several years ago, the top of this marble castle was taken down, and the lower half was used for a time. If you drive by today, you will see no indication that it was ever there. The Marble Castle is gone. |
Archived Sylacauga History Facts:
Rising Star
Baptist Church
The Barnes-Prather
House
Mignon Baptist Church
Marble
City Cemetery
First Presbyterian
Church
Rozelle Service Station
Comet Drive
Dr. Adair K. Whetstone
Sylacauga High
School Football Program
Sylacauga Christmas
Sylacauga First Baptist Church
Sam Martin Ex Slave
Local History About World War II
Marble City Land & Furnace Company
Dave Goldberg
The Sylacauga Chamber of Commerce
State Secondary
Agricultural School
Ira A. Watson Company
Fes Simpkins
Womens Prayer Group
Gantts Guarry Post Office
Sylacauga In 1887
Albert Branscomb
Sylacauga's First Newspaper
St. Thomas United Methodist Church
Houses in Sylacauga Numbered
Road's End Revisited
Legion Stadium
Sylacauga Bottling Companies
Sylacauga Water Works
Sylacauga
High School Class 1948 Reunion
Early
Sylacauga
Sylacauga Celebrations
Claudio Boni, Marble Worker
Cesare Pillade
Falconi