Yule Marble - Discovered: 1873 To Mid 1880s

Discovered: 1873 To Mid 1880s

Yule Marble was discovered in the Crystal River Valley in the spring of 1873 by geologist Sylvester Richardson. George Yule (for whom the marble was later named) was the prospector who "rediscovered" the marble in 1874. In the same year, an unknown person took some marble—from which polished samples were made—and appeared in Denver but failed to generate interest. The marble became lost again, and was rediscovered 10 years later, yet again by accident. By this time, prospectors were digging into Whitehouse Mountain for silver and gold when they encountered the Treasure Mountain Dome and thick marble. This time a transition started that moved the town away from mining to one of quarrying marble, although some locals were still involved with mining in 1910. The transition enabled the town to survive while nearby towns such as Crystal and Schofield became ghost towns. The town was still a one-industry economy and its future followed that of the marble operation.