OWNER OF CARRARA QUARRIES ADMITS COLORADO LEADS is the headline on the small article. One of the owners of the Carrara quarries, Emilio Corsi, made a clandestine trip to Marble, Colorado and the quarries around 1909 after hearing that the marble was/is the finest in the world. He came away declaring it was indeed finer than the marble in Carrara and was the finest in world.
I’ll do some more digging, but I think this article appeared in the Rocky Mountain News. I found another that quotes Corsi as saying there is a new Carrara and it is in Marble, Colorado. Hope I can find it.
The Marble Historical Society will have copies of the DVD ready for Christmas delivery! Send $24.95 to;Kimberley Perrin, Museum Director, 412 West Main Street, Marble, CO 81623 or call 970-963-9815 or email Kim at marblehistory@gmail.com
This is the ‘Lincoln Memorial Edition’ which has an exact replica of the only surviving copy of the Marble Booster’s Lincoln Memorial special edition of the newspaper. Make sure you order as soon as you can to get it for Christmas.
This first image was made in 1910 according to the info from the Marble Historical Society that I found while researching for the DVD. The focus I have is on the wood staircase in the back of the image. Looks like it was in use when this image was made.
I made the next image almost 100 years later when the staircase was being removed for ‘safety’ reasons. The quarry had no choice, MSHA said to get rid of it so away it goes. The staircase was built to last and the guys found that out when they tried to tear it down. It took quiet the effort to remove it.
You can see the progress of the quarrying by how much lower the floor is in the second image.
Big contracts kept the quarry in operation in the early days. The Youngstown, Ohio Court House was one of those.
In my research I found two photos that I think are the same piece of marble. The quarry superintendent stands on a slab of marble intended for the courthouse while the other image is of a column cut from a slab. The photos were taken close enough in time to each other that I think the column piece was actually cut from the slab in the first image.
Coulter lake on the Western Slope of Colorado. I put this little clip together just for myself as I sit here missing the mountains while sweltering in 110 degree heat. Colorado here I come!
Over the last couple of years I’ve lost touch with the sculptor (Jeremy Russel) of this eagle and the project has been grounded. I hope to get in touch with Jeremy within the next couple of days and I’ll pass along the latest info.
