For many years, some fifteen quarries around the city were mined for use everywhere, from Stephen Avenue to Rouleauville-Mission.
Several buildings were built, providing a historic character and important heritage for the city. Among them were the city hall constructed in 1911, St. Mary's Cathedral and, of course, St. Mary's Parish Hall.
Southwestern Alberta sandstone is made up of sand grains eroded from the ancestral Rocky Mountains and carried eastward by rivers some 58 - 65 million years ago.
Over time, the sand was covered by hundreds of metres of sediment which hardened with mineral deposits from underground water. Erosion slowly resulted in the formation of the sandstone outcrops visible today along the river valleys.
Source: Canadian Geoscience Education Network; Photo: Glenbow Archives (NA-3267-53, 1912) Macleod Quarrying and Contracting Company, north-west of Monarch, Alberta. This sandstone block reported to weigh 10 tons. Known as Scotsman's Quarry. On north bank of Oldman River 6 miles north-west of Monarch. Operated 1910-1913 with 60 Scottish stone masons. Stone used for Lethbridge postal service, office, Banff Springs hotel and early Canadian Pacifc Railway buildings.