The city's fortune is literally its foundation--a bed of prized translucent white marble estimated to be 32 miles long, 1 1/2 miles wide, and about 400 feet deep. The bed is, in many places, only 12 feet below ground level. Marble from Sylacauga (said to mean "meeting place of the Chalaka Indians") has been used in the US Supreme Court Building and many other famous buildings in the United States and abroad. Sylacauga stone is also crushed and ground for use in products such as paint, putty, plastics, asphalt tile, and rubber.