Llano County Granite Industry

Granite was the county's one mineral that paid. Hopes for iron drew outside money in the late 1880s, but none of the other ores proved rich enough to mine at a profit. With better transportation in the 1890s, several granite cutting and finishing firms moved to Llano, and by the 1950s quarrying and finishing were a million-dollar-a-year business. The county has also produced talc, vermiculite and feldspar. The bridge beside this park, the Roy Inks Bridge, named for a former mayor, replaced the 1892 span that a forty-two-foot flood crest swept away in 1935.

What the plaque says

Llano County Granite Industry Llano County's granite industry can be traced to 1888 when J. K. Finlay first polished a stone from his mill site and David Stewart opened a quarry south of Llano. Prominent sculptor Frank Teich leased a quarry from Stewart and established Teich Monument Works in 1900. Thirteen varieties of granite were found in Llano County. Noted mineralogist N. J. Badu discovered in the county a form of granite called "Opalene" or "Llanite," which contains opalite flakes. Although difficult to cut, the excellent quality of Llano granite made it suitable for buildings and monuments.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Llano County Courthouse Square — steps away
  The 1893 Romanesque courthouse on Llano's square, built after a fire at the height of a boom that was meant to make the granite town an iron city.
• Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery — 17 mi
  A free federal hatchery below Inks Dam on the Colorado, with thirty production ponds that draw birds and a look at how fish are raised from egg to harvest.
• Inks Lake State Park — 18 mi
  A state park on a constant-level lake of the Colorado, between Buchanan and Inks dams, with pink granite and gneiss at the water and CCC work along Park Road 4.
• Enchanted Rock State Natural Area — 19 mi
  A dome of pink granite north of Fredericksburg that rises some 385 feet above Sandy Creek, creaks as it cools at night, and has drawn people for thousands of years.

More markers nearby

• Lantex Theater — steps away
• Frank Teich — steps away
• Llano Woman's Culture Club — steps away
• Richmond Alexander McInnis — 0.3 mi