The Stone Centre Inc.
Proudly serving Canadian families since 1909.
Our company was founded in 1909 by George W. Nelson and his brother Percy Nelson at Lower Cape in Albert County, New Brunswick, near the famous Hopewell Cape Rocks.
The Nelson brothers initially set up their business in an old church, with the showroom and offices at the front of the building and manufacturing facilities at the back. The company was originally known as George W. Nelson & Sons.
In addition to making monuments, the brothers were involved in quarrying granite, and the manufacture and installation of architectural stonework.
By the mid 1950s, Geo. W. Nelson & Sons had become the largest monument and stoneworking company in the Maritimes, actively quarrying, manufacturing and selling memorials and other stonework on both a wholesale and retail basis.
The photo from 1950 shows Harry Nelson, Russell Nelson, Carl Nelson and Jim Preston.
The famous Spoon Island, or Hampstead quarry, was purchased. This quarry first started production in 1841 and the distinctive grey granite, commonly known as Coral Dawn, was used to construct bridges and buildings throughout the Maritimes.
Stone from this quarry was used to construct the Sir John A. MacDonald monument in Kingston, Ontario, and more recently supplied stone for the causeway to Prince Edward Island.
In 1959, ground was broken for a new manufacturing facility in Sussex, New Brunswick. A new building was constructed and advanced machinery and equipment of the time was purchased and installed.
It was likely at this point that the company name became Nelson Monuments Ltd.
The Nelson family purchased a black granite quarry at Digedeguash Lake from Ken Fitzgerald and began redevelopment and quarrying operations.
Russell Nelson also explored reopening some of the historic St. George quarries, but market conditions and investment requirements made that impractical.
Harry and Maurice Nelson moved to Windsor, Nova Scotia and built a new manufacturing plant to concentrate on the Nova Scotia market.
Heritage Memorials continued the family traditions of quarrying their own granites and remains one of Atlantic Canada’s largest monument companies.
Russell’s sons Merrill, Eric and Carter purchased 75% of their father’s shares in Nelson Monuments. Merrill managed manufacturing in Sussex, Eric handled sales and sourced granite overseas, and Carter looked after quarrying.
Garth joined the company in 1970 at age 13, working part time after school in the plant. By age 16, he was working full time in the Evandale quarry.
In 1979, Garth was transferred to Moncton, New Brunswick to learn the role of territory sales manager. His wife Allison joined the company in August of 1979 as branch manager of the Moncton showroom.
The Nelson family purchased land in Vermilion Bay, Ontario and began developing what became Nelson Granite.
This quarry is now one of the largest and most successful producing granite quarries in North America, with a major percentage of its granite exported to the USA and overseas.
Garth and Allison Nelson moved to St. John’s, Newfoundland in February 1982 and opened a new sales display in March.
Later that year, the company expanded into Ontario. In November 1982, Garth and Allison opened a sales office on Victoria Street North in Kitchener, Ontario, followed by a lettering plant in Waterloo.
By 1985, sales were growing quickly and the company needed more space. Garth and Allison purchased land on Bridge Street East in the Township of Woolwich.
Manufacturing began in the new building in spring 1986. This location is now the permanent home and base of operations for The Stone Centre.
The purchase of Ideal Monuments and Lambton Memorials was finalized in March 1992. Dale Monuments was also acquired that same year.
Ideal Monuments continues to operate successfully from the improved London location acquired through Dale Monuments.
A butterfly agreement was completed to reorganize shareholders for the various divisions.
Merrill and Eric Nelson became sole shareholders of Nelson Monuments, Carter Nelson and Nevin Nelson became sole shareholders of Nelson Granite, and Garth Nelson became sole shareholder of The Stone Centre Inc.
In 1997, a Stone Centre showroom opened in St. Catharines to serve the Niagara Region.
In 1998, renovations were completed at Lambton Memorials, converting the property into a more attractive office and display area.
Brantford Monuments was acquired when the owner of an existing monument business attached to a classic cobblestone house wished to retire.
The old shop areas have since been converted into a larger and more attractive showroom.
Shantz Memorials, Shuh Memorials and Galt Monuments were acquired in 2005.
Heritage Memorials of Perth County was acquired in 2006.
In 2007, Galt Monuments moved to a new location in Cambridge after the former City of Cambridge Pump House was purchased, rezoned and renovated while respecting its heritage designation.
In 2009, The Stone Centre Inc. and other Nelson family companies celebrated 100 years in business.
This milestone also marked the installation of a top-of-the-line Allen Datagraph laser etching machine at the Kitchener plant, allowing laser etchings to be completed in house.
Alliston Monument Works, one of Alliston’s oldest continuously operating businesses, was acquired in 2015.
The original Alliston Monument Works building was constructed in 1901 and designated as a historic property in 2007.
Glenmount Memorials became part of The Stone Centre family in 2016, with established locations in Port Colborne and Welland.
As part of The Stone Centre Inc., Glenmount Memorials gained access to one of the largest inventories of memorials in Ontario, a large collection of designs, and improved production and delivery equipment.
