At the turn of the 20th century, a young Thomas Arthur McGahey earned 50 cents a day smoothing the surfaces of marble headstones at Columbus Marble Works, a modest operation tucked near the railroad tracks in south Columbus.
More than a century later, his great-great-grandson, Sanders Edmondson, answers calls from grieving families, helps couples plan their own headstones and walks customers through rows of polished monuments inside the showroom at the company’s now 130,000 square-foot production facility on Highway 45. Outside, more than 50 employees – many of them McGahey descendants – work among the whir of saws and clouds of stone dust to keep the 19th century business alive.
“It’s kind of one of those businesses that … you’ll always need,” Sanders said. “I think that’s why we’ve never gone away. There was always somebody that needed a headstone or needed something from Marble Works. That’s kept us going. … There’s no plan to get out of (the business) anytime soon.”
Founded in 1846 by two Scottish brothers, Columbus Marble Works originally produced tombstones, mantles and urns before being purchased by John Stinson in 1891. Less than a decade later, McGahey joined the company as a teenager and eventually took ownership. Since then, the business has moved locations, yet remained in the family through generations of Joneses, Gholsons and Edmondsons.
Today, the company is one of only two remaining industries in the Golden Triangle dating back to the 1800s, and according to Sanders, is the oldest continuously operating business in Mississippi.
Although the company can produce nearly anything made of marble or granite, headstones remain its primary product, Sanders said. The plant produces roughly 10,000 civilian monuments annually, along with between 150 and 200 markers each day for Veterans Affairs cemeteries nationwide.
Adapting to change
Plant Manager Colby Upton, who has worked at the company for about a decade, said technology has transformed the trade.
“Many new machines and saws … have made working with stone a lot less complicated,” he said.
Where artisans once spent days carving marble by hand with chisels and hammers, workers now use computerized profiling saws and sandblasting machines that dramatically speed production.
“They can cut a lot faster than what we used to do by hand,” Sanders said. “It was a … slower process. … But now … you can basically put in the cut you want into a computer, sit (the marble) on a block and the saw will do the rest.”
The company has also embraced newer technology in its design process, Sanders said. The rise of artificial intelligence now allows families to create more personalized monuments than ever before.
“Our customer base on the civilian side really wants to put their own touch on things instead of using pre-made designs,” he said. “With AI … people are able to have the tools at their disposal to create something that they want, and they can send it to us and then we can recreate it for them. … In the past, I would say we weren’t able to give customers exactly what they wanted, … so now with AI, we’re able to give customers exactly what they’re looking for, which is great.”
Workers upload designs into computer programs that guide the saws before artisans create stencils and etch the finished images into stone using sandblasting equipment.
While many businesses eventually lose their footing to competitors, Sanders said competition never posed a major threat to the company, which remains one of the nation’s largest monument manufacturers.
“There are definitely other monument companies,” he said. “But … a lot of them are just selling (headstones) … but they’re ordering their headstones from a bigger company, like us. … There are some other businesses developing, but I don’t think they have …the scale we have.”
The company’s greatest challenge came during the Great Depression – the only time it has come close to closing its doors.
“People were not spending money on headstones,” Sanders said, recalling details shared by his grandfather. “They were trying to just keep food on the table at that time, so it was a luxury to get someone a headstone or buy them a monument, things like that at that time. … They fell on hard times.”
Still, McGahey persisted, and the company endured. The reason for that, Upton said, is thanks to the company’s concern for craftsmanship and community.
“We owe our longevity and success to consistently delivering quality work and building strong relationships within our community,” he said. “We focus on treating every customer with care and respect, which has earned us trust over generations.
“… It does help having several employees who have committed over 40 years to CMW and the knowledge they have consumed and passed down over that time,” he added.
Today, Columbus Marble Works headstones fill the rows of the city’s oldest and newest cemeteries and sprawl across the country, with pieces of carved marble making their way to portions of the Washington Monument and veteran markers at Arlington National Cemetery.
“It really fills you with a sense of pride to continue a family business like ours,” Sanders said. “… Our family is very close, and none of us really move too far. It’s always been something we’ve all been very excited about. … We do everything to keep it going.”
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
