American Monument& Granite Co.
(330) 325-2500
American Monument& Granite Co.
(330) 325-2500
Our shop is in Ravenna, about fifteen miles east of Akron, and has been since 2004. Every stone is cut, lettered, and finished there by hand, and we bring it to the cemetery and set it ourselves.
We work in every cemetery in Summit County, Akron’s included. What makes a memorial right is decided in conversation: who they were, what the family wants to be able to read in twenty years, and what the cemetery will allow. We design from that conversation rather than from a page of stock shapes, and everything is finished in our own shop before it goes anywhere.
The cemetery’s part matters more than most families expect. If an Akron cemetery wants something specific about the base, or the section permits only a flat marker, we find that out first and tell you before you have chosen a stone you cannot have. When the stone is ready, the people setting it are the people who made it.
You do not have to drive out to order. We can start from a phone call and send proofs to you. If you would rather see granite in daylight than on a screen, the showroom in Ravenna is open weekdays, with evenings and weekends by appointment, and there is never any obligation attached to walking in.
Most of what we set belongs to families, so it is shown without names. This one belongs to a veterans’ district that includes Akron.
The memorial in the photograph above was cut for District Eight of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Department of Ohio. Its polished black face carries an etched map of the district’s four counties, Summit, Portage, Trumbull and Mahoning, beside the flag, with the VFW and Ladies Auxiliary emblems at the top and the seals of the five service branches along the base. The line across it reads “Dedicated to our brave veterans who defended our freedom.”
Choosing a private headstone does not have to mean giving up the VA benefit. Read our guide to the free VA marker before you order anything: it covers the bronze medallion that can go on a private stone, who qualifies, and which parts the government pays for.
Everything else we have set in Summit County is in the gallery without names attached: uprights, slants, flat markers, benches, and the etched and hand-carved work that goes on them. It is the honest way to see the range.
Glendale Cemetery, on Glendale Avenue, was chartered by an act of the Ohio General Assembly in 1839 and is still run by a not-for-profit board of trustees. Simon Perkins, who co-founded Akron in 1825, is buried there, and so is Ohio Columbus Barber, who founded Barberton. Its Civil War Memorial Chapel, built by the Buckley Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, was dedicated on Memorial Day 1876, and the cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Holy Cross Cemetery, on East Waterloo Road, has served Akron’s Catholic families since 1912 and has been run by the Catholic Cemeteries Association of the Diocese of Cleveland since 1955. Mount Peace Cemetery, on Aqueduct Street, was founded in 1880 by German immigrants who opened it to everyone in Akron. Dr. Robert Smith, a co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, is buried near the main gate, and the cemetery is the last stop of the Founders Day weekend every June.
Rose Hill Burial Park, on West Market Street in Fairlawn, dates from the 1920s and takes its name from the nursery that once stood on the land. Hillside Memorial Park covers 88 acres on Canton Road in Springfield Township, near Springfield Lake. Greenlawn Memorial Park is on Romig Road.
Each of these sets its own rules, and they are not the same rules: what size of memorial is permitted, whether an upright is allowed in a given section at all, how the foundation must be poured and by whom. We ask before you choose, not after, and we handle the permit, the foundation, and the setting. If the memorial you have in mind is not allowed where they are buried, you will hear it from us early, while it is still easy to change.
Names, locations, and dates above are from each cemetery’s own website (Glendale, Holy Cross, Mount Peace, Rose Hill, Hillside, Greenlawn) and the National Park Service, checked 2026-11-01. For a plot, a section, or what a particular cemetery permits, the cemetery office is the authority, and we are glad to make that call with you.
The traditional standing headstone, for one name or two, or a family monument carrying several. Shape, granite color, carving, and etching are all decided with you.
Slant, bevel, and flush markers, including bronze. Some cemetery sections permit nothing else, which is worth knowing before you fall for an upright.
Solid granite benches, engraved. A place to sit at the grave rather than stand at it, where the section has room for one.
Urn-ready stones and memorials for cremation gardens, single or companion, for families who chose cremation and still want somewhere to go.
Adding a date to a stone already standing usually costs $300 to $500 before sales tax (our prices as of 2026). We also straighten stones that have leaned or sunk and clean older granite and marble properly; the full price list is on that page.
Start with what to say rather than what to buy. Our guide to what to write on a headstone covers names, dates, epitaphs, and emblems, and how long a headstone takes explains the cemetery’s part of the schedule.
Yes. We work in every cemetery in Summit County, Holy Cross and Glendale included. Tell us the cemetery and the section and we will find out what is allowed there before you choose anything.
Glendale Cemetery on Glendale Avenue was chartered in 1839. Holy Cross Cemetery on East Waterloo Road is a Catholic cemetery, run by the Catholic Cemeteries Association of the Diocese of Cleveland. Mount Peace Cemetery is on Aqueduct Street and Greenlawn Memorial Park on Romig Road. Rose Hill Burial Park is on West Market Street in Fairlawn, and Hillside Memorial Park is on Canton Road in Springfield Township.
No. The shop is about fifteen miles east of Akron, and you do not have to come in at all. We can start the design from a phone call and send proofs to you. When the stone is ready, we bring it to the cemetery and set it ourselves.
Yes. Adding an inscription or a second date to a monument already set is ordinary work for us, and it is done at the cemetery rather than by moving the stone. It usually costs $300 to $500, before sales tax (our prices as of 2026).
From the day you order to the day we set the stone, most monuments take three to six months. Footers are generally poured from spring until just before winter across Portage, Summit, and Stark Counties, so the cemetery’s season matters as much as our schedule.
We do. We ask the cemetery what it permits, file what needs filing, pour or arrange the foundation to that cemetery’s requirement, and set the stone ourselves.
When you’re ready, our family is here to help yours, with patience, care, and no obligation.
Start Their Memorial →