The History of Pink Marble

"I do not know any European or Egyptian (as some Italian marbles are here called) equal in beauty with the Tennessee marble, as well for its variegations as for its polish."

— Gerard Troost, M.D.

"I do not know any European or Egyptian (as some Italian marbles are here called) equal in beauty with the Tennessee marble, as well for its variegations as for its polish." - Tennessee’s first state geologist, Gerard Troost, M.D. wrote in a detailed description to an “anonymous gentleman” in Rogersville on 27 August 1838, which was published the following April.

The history of marble in East Tennessee dates back 458 million years to the Middle Ordovician period of the Paleozoic era when the groundcover was a warm shallow sea. Over millions of years, thick crusts formed on the bottom of the sea from the coral reefs, skeletons, and shells of the marine organisms, which were eventually buried by clay, sand and other sediments. Toward the end of the Paleozoic era, continental drifts and the crashing of landmasses resulted in upheavals of the land, which created high pressure and heat, sufficient to contribute to the metamorphism of limestone into marble. The stone excavated in Tennessee is considered marble by the building stone industry, which applies the term to any high quality, hard limestone.

The late Dr. J. G. Walls, a preeminent geologist at the University of Tennessee, attributes the unique nature of Tennessee marble to the weight and temperature of the upward displacement of the earth’s crust, also known as the process of mountain formation, and the deposit and solidification of calcite and other minerals into the thick layers of shells and other skeletal remains of marine organisms. The process also accounts for the color variations and images which appear in a medley of hues. Pink marble is most widely associated with East Tennessee. An analysis of marbles of different tones revealed that the distinct pinkish appearance was attributable primarily to elevated levels of Hematite (ferric oxide) and, to a lesser extent, Rhodocrosite (carbonate magnesium).