Sloan Monument Works is the oldest business in Cameron, Missouri.  It was established with very humble beginnings in 1872 by a 20-year-old Canadian marble craftsman named W.G. Sloan. The company began in a modest frame building on the West side of McCorkle Park. 

Mr. Sloan would travel the countryside by horse and buggy selling gravestones to families in the local community. His first products were simple marble slabs. When he made a sale, he returned to his shop and carved the inscription by hand. He would then haul the stone to the cemetery and set it carefully in place. 

In the early years of the business, every monument was hewn and polished by the hard work of an individual craftsman. Using hammers, mallets and chisels, these skilled workmen carved the designs and hand-lettered the stones. 

Around 1885, Sloan Monument Works began stocking the first granite monuments in the area, and became the exclusive agent for such premium granites as Ruby Red and Rock of Ages. 

Eventually, the extensive handiwork required Mr. Sloan to employ as many as ten workmen during peak periods prior to Memorial Day. A journeyman stonecutter earned about two dollars for a ten hour day, six days a week, at a time when the common laborer drew 75 cents to a dollar a day.

In 1905, the company outgrew its original frame structure and replaced it with the brick building that’s still in use today. The tools are updated, of course, but it’s the same building the company has been using for more than a century.

Sloan Monument Works served the people of Cameron for generations, maintaining a steadfast commitment to a high level of service and integrity. In 1988, the company was purchased by Kent and Kurt Thompson as a natural extension of the Poland-Thompson Funeral Home. The Thompson family continues to uphold the tradition of craftsmanship that was started by W.G. Sloan over 125 years ago.

For information on the wide array of skillfully-crafted memorial products from Sloan Monument Works, please contact Karen Thompson, Manager, at 816-632-2473, or toll free 1-877-280-0583. Or you can e-mail us directly at sloanmonument@hotmail.com.

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