Made in Virginia 2014: Buckingham Slate Company, Arvonia

Buckingham Slate Company

A Buckingham Slate shingle.

Photo by Shanaz Bowman

After more than 150 years in business, Buckingham Slate Co. has extracted less than a mile’s worth of its 13-mile vein considered to contain some of the world’s best slate. That means, says the company’s head of sales, Brad Jones Jr., that there is still another 200-300 years’ worth left. Not many companies in business today can claim that Thomas Jefferson recommended their product, or point to the roofs of the Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg, the Smithsonian Castle in Washington, D.C. and the Executive Mansion in Richmond as examples of their longevity. But Buckingham Slate can. Still split by hand, as it has been since it was first quarried in the 1780s, its deep blue-gray-black hue never fades because it never absorbs water—its distinctive sheen coming from mica, a silicate material found only in Buckingham Slate. “It’s a heritage product for our state,” says Jones, “but it’s also the best product in the world.” $700 per 10-by-10 square. BVSlate.com