The lead builders of Morgan’s Library traveled to Tennessee in 1902 to scout stone. They chose to buy from the Knoxville Marble Company, run by John M. Ross, who was able to supply a large quantity of attractive and uniform stone. Morgan selected from several samples presented for his inspection. The heavy blocks were transported to New York via train—on the very railroads Morgan’s financial firm had reorganized through a nineteenth-century syndicate.
On this geologic map, Knoxville appears in the second colored band from the right at about 36° latitude, 84° longitude. The area is marked with the word “MARBLE.”
Nelson Sayler
An Outline Geological Map of Tennessee, Including Portions of Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia
Cincinnati: E. Mendenhall, 1866
Library of Congress