The Yule marble deposit was first discovered in 1873 by Sylvester Richardson, a geologist who was originally searching for possible gold deposits, and was named after George Yule, a prospector who first “rediscovered” this marble later in 1874. The Yule Marble Quarry was first opened in 1885 and samples of Yule marble were brought to Denver; however, due to lack of interest, the marble was never extracted. By accident, 10 years later prospectors in the Yule Creek valley were searching for silver and gold when they found a thick marble vein. The quality of this marble was exquisite, and thus begins the history of quarrying in Marble.

Located above the Crystal River Valley, the marble quarry is located ~3 miles south of the town of Marble. While the pre-metamorphosed Mississippian Leadville Limestone is found across Colorado, only the Elk Mountains of Western Colorado feature the fine-grained metamorphic Yule marble. It differs from other American marbles due to its formation by contact metamorphism, making it unique and consistent with a bright lustrous appearance.

Many structures were developed to support the historic quarries such as wooden derricks located by and above portal openings to lift blocks out of the quarries and electric hoists were installed to move marble from the quarry to the loading station. In the early years, marble was then placed on wagons and transported to the mill site in the town of Marble. Wagons were replaced by a narrow-gauge railway around 1910. Many of the most important U.S. monuments are made of Colorado Yule Marble such as the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., the George Washington Monument, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Virginia.

In 2011, the Italian company R.E.D. Graniti, based in Carrara with more than 50 years of experience in the natural stone business, bought and expanded the Yule Quarry to ~125 acres and gave it a new name – The Pride of America Mine. This experience, along with generations of quarrying know-how, brings the necessary knowledge to return Colorado Yule marble to its former prominence. R.E.D. Graniti also introduced modern day quarrying equipment to the Yule valley in the form of massive investments that allowed the opening of new areas, discoveries of new marble varieties, production increases and, of most importance – a reduction of adverse environmental impacts.