It all stared over a billion years ago when molten rock beneath Stern County surged from the earths crust.

The rock then began to cool and the minerals inside the rock condensed and hardened with time. These later formed very durable granite. From such definition. Without cutting or cropping of such areas of rock it can range in ranges of 10 sq miles between what is now St.Cloud, and Rockville.
After sometime colored granite deposits were recovered, giving the area its proper name, Granite City What could be found in these areas of deposits are a Rockville beige, white, gray, and pink

The first granite quarry opened in Minnesota was the Breen & Young quarry at East St. Cloud in Sherburne County in the spring of 1868. Their first order was to prepare stone for the corners and steps of the United States customhouse and post office in St. Paul. In the two years from the beginning of 1869 to 1871 the shipments of granite from St. Cloud to St. Paul amounted to 2,200 tons.

Early quarrying techniques made use of biological power. Men armed with hammers and chisels would painstakingly pound a row of holes into the rock. Dynamite was dropped into these holes to loosen the rock. The granite was then extracted on the backs of men and horses. Horse drawn wagons brought the granite to the rising cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis for building construction. Steamships on the Mississippi River distributed granite to the southern part of the country. Workers were constantly exposed to clouds of dust and smoke. As a result silicosis of the lungs was a common affliction of early miners.

All imperfect stone and waste rock had to be constantly cleared from the quarry. Scrap rock accumulates rapidly and at all the quarries there are still great mountains of what is commonly called grout.After being extracted from the pit, the granite was then transported via motorcar or train to the finishing plants for processing. Granite lathes enabled finishers to sculpt granite into large pillars, which grace the entrances of many metropolitan buildings across the nation. Other pieces are commonly formed into curbsides, statues and memorials.

More information can be found on,

http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/environmental-studies/courses/es-399%20home/es-399-02/Stearns/Briansfiles/RealGraniteStories/TherealGraniteHistory.html

All information has come from that site.
All right to the Author.