Field Note Writing Contest Student RUNNER-UP: The Tidal Grey Impact Of Arabia Mountain

The Arabia Alliance hosted its first-ever Field Note Writing contest, open to writers throughout Georgia. We picked one student runner-up Gabrielle Richmond, whose Field Note about Arabia’s Tidal Grey granite is below.

Arabia Mountain‘s unique granite has a profound legacy. ‘Tidal Grey’ is the name of the granite found on Arabia Mountain in Stonecrest and Lithonia, Georgia. A brief look at this granite quickly reveals its distinctiveness, possessing unique features that are both evident and not so evident to the naked eye. The ‘stand out’ features of Arabia Mountain granite can be seen as well as felt.

Arabia Mountain’s ‘Tidal Grey’ rock (actually a type of granitic gneiss) looks and feels different from granite found in surrounding locations. A close look and casual brush of this rock reveals its unique color and texture. The Tidal Grey granite is hard, smooth, and light grey with distinct streaks and swirls. These unique features of Arabia Mountain’s stone made it a major player in the agriculture, construction, and quarry sectors, turning Lithonia into the City of Granite.

Arabia Mountain Granite in Agriculture

While many are familiar with quarrying at Arabia, the Tidal Grey granite of the mountain also made a significant contribution to the agricultural sector. More specifically, this unique granite played an important role in the poultry industry in the mid-20th Century. Due to its distinctive structure, the Tidal Grey granite of Arabia mountain has long been the prominent choice for the production of chicken feed. The use of Arabia Mountain granite to produce feed for poultry began almost three quarters of a century ago. Chicken feed production using Tidal Grey granite from Arabia Mountain began in the early 1940s. The Davidson family, who owned Arabia Mountain for most of the twentieth century, spearheaded quarrying in the area. The Davidson Granite Company were the prominent producers of chicken grit made from Tidal Grey granite. The chicken grit or feed was sold under the brand name Stonemo.

This Arabia Mountain signature granite was the ideal ingredient for chicken grit because of its distinctive hardness, which improves digestion in poultry, especially broiler chickens. The exceptional hardness of the Tidal Grey granite causes it to be insoluble and acts as an effective grinding agent for the chicken’s gizzard to digest food. This feed ultimately boosts digestion and reduces the waste of nutrients. Also, the sparkling appearance of the Tidal Grey granite encouraged ingestion by chickens. The Stonemo brand chicken feed was credited with improved commercial poultry production, eventually making the Davidson Granite Co. the largest producers of chicken grit in the world! (Talk about making lemonade from lemons.) It was reported in granite museum publication that the use of granite chicken grit resulted in a 7 percent increase in egg production.

Tidal Grey’s Impact

Tidal Grey granite has also played a key role in the construction and quarry industries. This unique granite from Arabia Mountain was selected repeatedly for use in construction of notable structures in Georgia and across the United States. The Tidal Grey granite was used to build Bancroft Hall at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. Arabia Mountain granite was also used for the building of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. Locally, the Tidal Grey granite was used in the construction of Lithonia’s historic Bruce Street School (DeKalb’s first public school for Black folks), and in many curbs throughout Metro Atlanta. This distinct granite was selected for use in these landmark construction projects because of its durability and beautiful swirl patterns. Extensive quarrying in the Arabia Mountain area also led to the evolution of some quarry technologies, moving from hand quarrying to drills, dynamite, and air compressors. Quarrying was hard, dangerous work, but it also provided opportunity in an otherwise rural area.

Overall, the unique structure and appearance of Arabia Mountain’s Tidal Grey granite has contributed to it playing a notable role in the agriculture, quarrying, and construction sectors. The distinct hardness and color of this granite has led to its use in poultry feed production, which boosts poultry health and ultimately increases egg yield. Tidal Grey’s durability has resulted in its selection for use in prominent infrastructure both locally and across the United States. Although the quarrying and chicken grit industries are long gone, Arabia Mountain has established a noteworthy legacy that will last for ages.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gabrielle Richmond is a rising seventh grade student at General Ray Davis Middle School. She is enrolled in the Fine Arts Academy and her focus is art and theater. She aspires to be a well-known artist and actress. She said it was “indeed an adventure writing this piece for this contest.”

Read the other Field Note Writing Contest entries that won or were named runner-up below. And please participate next year!

• “The Monk And The Butterfly Counter” by Joseph Goodall
• “The Key to Flat Rock” by London Ahyee
• “A Lifetime Of Experiences On The Arabia Mountain PATH” by Katy King