Garwood Monument

Notable about the Garwood Monument is the material from which it is made. The marker is fabricated from zinc and is referred to as "white bronze." These zinc monuments stand out from other monuments because of its bluish-gray color. These markers are hollow and durable, but not unbreakable. You will see many tall and short zinc monuments throughout this area of the cemetery.

Notable about the Garwood Monument is the material from which it is made. The marker is fabricated from zinc and is referred to as "white bronze." These zinc monuments stand out from other monuments because of its bluish-gray color. These markers are hollow and durable, but not unbreakable.

Scrollwork, wreaths of roses, and family names that appeared to be carved from tree branches could easily be added to the monuments without the added expense of a stone mason. Plaques with the deceased's information could easily be bolted onto an existing monument design. Zinc monuments began to appear in the 1870s and remained popular for a short time. The zinc monuments don’t oxidize from brown to green (as bronze monuments do) they don’t end up with lichen growing on the surface, a common problem with granite monuments.

Because they are made from metal, they do not deteriorate and the inscriptions remain readable for many years longer than their stone counterparts.

Why Some Gravestones are Made of Zinc, FamilyTree.com. Accessed September 22nd 2021. https://www.familytree.com/blog/why-some-gravestones-are-made-of-zinc/.

Carol A. Grissom, Cemetery Monuments Made of Zinc, Smithsonian Institution. Accessed September 22nd 2021. https://www.si.edu/mci/english/research/conservation/zinc_cemetery_monuments.html.