The Stone Quarries

The red rock of St. George's landmarks came off the ledges just north of town, where sandstone lay in ten-inch layers that quarrymen split loose with wedges. Loaded onto the stripped running gears of wagons, the slabs rolled down to the Tabernacle site from 1863 on, and after 1871 the same red quarry supplied the walls of the temple while a lava quarry furnished its foundation. By 1875 the stonework on both buildings was done. The ledge itself still rims the north edge of the city, red as ever.

What the plaque says

Mormon Pioneers came to St. George in 1861 where they found rocks of many kinds for building purposes. After Brigham Young, President of the L.D.S. Church, advised them to erect a large meeting house, long layers of red sandstone ten inches thick were found in ledges north of town. Slabs of rock, loosened with wedges were loaded on running gears of wagons and hauled to the Tabernacle site. In 1871 a black lava quarry was located to supply rock for the foundation of a temple and stone for its walls came from the red sandstone quarry. Stonework on both buildings was completed by 1875.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm — 2.7 mi
  Real dinosaur footprints preserved in ancient sandstone
• Snow Canyon State Park — 7.0 mi
  Red and white sandstone cliffs with ancient lava flows
• Hurricane Canal Trail — 17 mi
  The hand-dug canal that built Hurricane, now a walking trail blasted into the Virgin River gorge
• Kolob Canyons — 32 mi
  The quiet, uncrowded back door to Zion National Park

More markers nearby

• The Dixie Pioneers — steps away
• Pioneer Museum — steps away
• The Desert Shall Blossom — steps away
• Woodward School — steps away