American Monument& Granite Co.
(330) 325-2500
American Monument& Granite Co.
(330) 325-2500
Our shop is a short drive east of Kent, in Ravenna, and has been since 2004. The granite is cut, lettered, and finished there by hand, and we bring it to the cemetery ourselves.
Most of 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 actually 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.
Being in the same county matters more than it sounds. When a Kent cemetery wants something specific about the base, or the section only permits a flat marker, we find that out first and tell you before you have chosen a stone you cannot have. And when the stone is ready, the people setting it are the people who made it.
If you would rather see granite in daylight than on a screen, the showroom in Ravenna is a few minutes away, and there is never any obligation attached to walking in.
Any monument company can say it serves your town. These are two you can drive to and read for yourself.
The stone in the photograph above stands in the Stow Street Pioneer Cemetery and marks the first burial there. Her family settled Franklin Township, and the cut lines beneath her name read “200 years after you settled in Franklin Township, a grateful community remembers you”, dated 1806–2006, Kent, Ohio Bicentennial. We made it for the town’s two hundredth year.
Two granite boulders outside the Kent State golf facility carry polished black plaques we cut and etched. One reads “Collegiate Home Of: Ben Curtis, 2003 British Open Champion” above an etched portrait of him holding the Claret Jug, with his four rounds at Royal St George’s scored out underneath. The second lists his years as a Golden Flash.
Those two are public. The rest of what we have set around Kent belongs to families, so it 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.
Standing Rock Cemetery, on North Mantua Street, is the one most Kent families use. Franklin Township trustees bought the first five acres in 1857 and the first burials were two years later. Its first sexton was John Davey, who went on to found the Davey Tree Expert Company, and the planting he laid out is the reason it looks the way it does. The chapel built in 1924 is now the cemetery office.
St. Patrick Cemetery was dedicated in 1859 and has been run by Standing Rock since 1963, so the two are handled together. Stow Street Pioneer Cemetery, at the entrance to Fred Fuller Park, is the oldest ground in the city, deeded to the township by the Haymaker family. Green Cemetery sits north of town on Hudson Road in Franklin Township. Breakneck Cemetery no longer stands where it did; its remains were moved to the northeastern corner of Standing Rock in the 1970s.
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.
Cemetery names, locations, and dates above are from the City of Kent’s cemeteries page and the Portage County Historical Society, checked 2026-08-31. 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 colour, 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, and increasingly what families ask for.
Urn-ready stones and memorials for cremation gardens, single or companion, for families who chose cremation and still want somewhere to go.
Adding a second date to a stone already standing, straightening one that has leaned or sunk, and cleaning older granite and marble properly. Read how to clean a headstone before you try it yourself.
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 granite colours explains which stone suits which kind of lettering.
Yes. Standing Rock is the largest cemetery in Kent and we work there regularly, along with St. Patrick, which Standing Rock has operated since 1963. Tell us the cemetery and the section and we will find out what is allowed there before you choose anything.
Standing Rock Cemetery on North Mantua Street is the main one, and it also operates St. Patrick Cemetery. The Stow Street Pioneer Cemetery, at the entrance to Fred Fuller Park, is the oldest burial ground in the city. Green Cemetery sits north of Kent on Hudson Road in Franklin Township, and the remains from Breakneck Cemetery were moved to the northeastern corner of Standing Rock in the 1970s.
It helps, because granite colour and finish look different in daylight than they do on a screen, and the showroom is a short drive from Kent. But it is not required. We can start the design from a phone call and send proofs to you.
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.
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.
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