Granite Mountain is an 866-foot dome of solid pink granite covering 180 acres and containing the largest quarry of its kind in the United States. Like all granite formations, it began as melted rock similar to lava; as the molten rock cooled thousands of feet below the earth's surface, it hardened into large crystals of quartz, feldspar, and several dark-colored minerals. Because granite provides strength, durability, and beauty of finish, it is a favored building stone. The mountain was part of a grant made to Texas colonist William Slaughter. The site became commercially famous when a dispute arose in the 1880s over the type of stone to be used in the Capitol in Austin, and the issue was settled in 1885 when Governor John Ireland resisted demands to use non-native limestone. After that decision, a special track was built to haul the granite to the rail line in Burnet. Quarry owners G. W. Lacy, N. L. Norton, and W. H. Westfall generously donated the stone to the state. Granite from the quarry has been shipped throughout Texas, the U.S., and foreign countries for use in monuments, shafts, jetties, and buildings, including the Galveston sea wall and new state office buildings near the Capitol in Austin.