Marble sits in a bowl at 8,000 feet surrounded by high peaks. Huge blocks of marble were cut four miles away and slung down the mountainside to a point where they could be hauled to the mill for processing.
You are standing on one of several factory floors used in the first decade of the 20th century. Its structural elements came from materials easily available: concrete and scrap marble. The marble pylons at right supported saw mounts, the ceiling and a massive hoist.
The white pile at left is marble dust, not snow. Some part of it might be from cutting the Lincoln Memorial. Even now there are remains of massive fluted disks which would have been stacked into columns.
At the far end is the remains of a firewall, also of marble. At one time the factory was flanked by an avalanche wall, 70 feet high, of the same material.
