BLUESTONE: “Here Rests in Honored Glory an American Soldier Known but to God” are the words inscribed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.

Also part of the tomb and its walkways are 800 linear feet of Pennsylvania bluestone sourced from nearby Cameron County.

According to an article by Ed Byers, published on pawilds.com, Sinnemahoning stone mason August Johnson quarried the stone, rough cutting the flagstone for the tomb’s walkway in 1931.

Fifteen railcars of 8-foot by 10-foot flagstone panels were shipped to Washington and trimmed to fit the walkway.

“There was one more thing the architect of the tomb wanted in choosing stone – a variety of colors, especially green,” Byers wrote. “The Sinnemahoning quarry had some of the rarest greens of all, which were found in vast quantities along the First Fork area going up Route 872 just outside town.”

Further, Johnson’s work was of such quality that his flagstone was also laid around the White House swimming pool.

Byers wrote, “This particular cut of flagstone … was chosen by the tomb’s architect because it is perfect in durability and resistance to wear, used in flooring and staircases nationwide.”

The Cameron County Historical Society’s Little Museum in Sterling Run houses a replica of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in a room laid with Pennsylvania bluestone.

Local veterans built the museum’s Military Room as an addition in the 1970s, according to Byers.

“Cameron County residents are proud of the fact that their home county,” Byers wrote, “has a special place in history in honoring our military personnel at one of our greatest national monuments.”