Monumental Bronze Company, Bridgeport, CT

The Monumental Bronze Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut is a now long extinct company that made grave markers and monuments. However, what they made was not from granite, marble, or even carved. The products that they made were cast from zinc. These grave markers are also known as "white bronze." And they are not bronze either. Once you recognize the appearance of these blue-gray monuments they are very easy to pick out when strolling through the "marble orchard" as one of my grandfathers once called the cemetery.

An example of a zinc monument

To my knowledge the Monumental Bronze Company was the only company to manufacture this product. The company began in 1874 and lasted until 1914.

According an excerpt of the below advertisement, "Marble is entirely out of date. Granite soon gets moss-grown... White Bronze is strictly everlasting... Moss-growth is an impossibility. It is more artistic than any stone."

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These views are somewhat true today. Marble stones, aside from military tablets, are not used as they once were. Granite does accumulate moss. Zinc monuments are for sure just as legible as the day it was installed.

It appears that the main way these monuments will fail is due to physical contact, such as lawnmower accidents or falling tree limbs. All zinc markers that I have examined were in perfect condition. But, you will not find many of these markers in our area. They never caught on. It was told to me that many granite and marble carvers were dead-set against the sale of these markers because they feared that they would soon be out of jobs if people took notice of the durability of zinc markers. Many carvers banded together and convinced some cemeteries boards to not allow the white bronze markers on their grounds. They were very successful.

Locally, I know of one zinc monument in a Troy cemetery and another in a Colonie cemetery. I am sure that there are more but these markers are elusive. When I was in a Kansas cemetery a couple years back I spotted three in the Wellsville Cemetery. Keep your eyes open and perhaps you will find one of these beauties. Just tap it. It will be hollow.

For further information on the Monumental Bronze Company and its products, see the following website:
Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives

A full catalog from the Monumental Bronze Company with prices is included on the website.