Marble City Cemetery opened for public burials in 1898 after the City of Sylacauga purchased one acre of a wheat field from James T. Persons. Originally the private burial ground of the George W. Pearson family, it contains an earliest burial dating from 1876. The city expanded the cemetery in 1919 and 1937. This ten acre cemetery reflects the history of Sylacauga’s marble production, with local stone cutters and men from Italy, Hungary, and Scotland using the area’s native white marble to carve its monuments. It is the resting place of veterans of several wars, including one Union and nine Confederate soldiers, as well as Talladega County’s earliest settlers and other area residents, including eight mayors, a probate judge, and Congressman William F. Nichols.