Green Marble & Slate

As I mentioned, Whiteford is just a few miles from the Pennsylvania line and shares much history with the area. The entrance to the branch now features a piece of green marble and a piece of slate donated by a local community group to keep the ties to the rich quarry history of the area.

The following excerpt is from "Delta Borough History" found at http://v6neon.homestead.com/HISTORY.html

"Slate in neighboring Peach Bottom Township and green marble in adjacent Cardiff in the 1800’s brought to the area an influx of Welsh settlers, whose mining skills easily translated to quarrying. Eventually about 500 workmen were employed in 15 operating slate quarries

That Delta-area slate was judged the best in the world at London’s Crystal Palace Exposition in 1850. It is present today throughout the town in sidewalks, gutters, house foundations, sills and roofs, and local cemeteries have gravestones carved of it. (That slate industry eventually lost its markets with the creation of new roofing materials, and the quarries gradually closed.}"