Louisville, Kentucky

We preserve stories for all time.

Monuments, headstones, benches and mausoleums for Louisville families. Every one designed and created by the Evans family, and set in the cemetery with our own equipment.

See the work Call 502-458-1400

Rose granite companion bench memorial with carved leaves and branches, standing under oak trees in a cemetery

3204 Bardstown Road, Louisville 502-458-1400 · answered 24 hours a day Monday to Friday 9 to 4:30 · Saturday 9 to 12

If you are just starting

You do not need to know anything yet.

Most families arrive with no idea where to begin, and that is the normal way to arrive. Bring the cemetery name if you have it. If you do not have it, tell us the person's name and we will find it.

Come to the store on Bardstown Road and look at the display of monuments and markers, or make an appointment to talk about a design and we will draw it while you are sitting there. Nothing is decided in one visit.

If you would rather not come in at all, that is fine too. A great deal of our work is done by phone and email, with colour drawings sent to you.

Large granite estate monument with four columns and a carved cross, standing on a cemetery lawn — An estate monument standing in a Louisville cemetery.

What we make

Every memorial you see here was designed and created by the Evans family.

Granite and marble from quarries all over the world. Vermont granite, Southern granite, and imported black granite from Africa, South America, India and Asia.

Grey granite traditional upright monument with carved crosses on a rock-pitched base

Monuments and markersTraditional, slant, bench, flat

Six crypt granite family mausoleum with a carved cross on top

Mausoleums and cryptsWalk-in and above ground

Civic veterans memorial of three black granite panels on a curved plaza with benches

Civic memorialsFor towns, schools and services

The work

No two of these are the same.

Some of these are photographs of finished stones standing in cemeteries. Some are the colour drawings we send a family before anything is cut, so you can see exactly what you would be approving.

Black granite crescent shaped monument with a laser etched portrait — Black granite, shaped and laser etched. Standing in the cemetery.

Rose granite cross monument with a carved lion holding a shield and a carved rose — The Price cross. Carved lion and shield, for a young Marine officer.

Black granite split upright monument with a polished heart shared across the join — A companion upright split in two, joined by one heart.

Granite monument topped by a large carved rose in bloom, with a porcelain portrait — A rose carved in full relief above the die.

Grey granite cross monument with carved IHS, standing before a brick wall — Granite cross, carved IHS. Set on its own base.

Black granite monument with a full carved statue of Mary standing above it — Black granite with a carved statue above.

Black granite upright monument etched with an American flag, newly installed — Etched flag. Photographed the day it was set.

Three black granite obelisks with grey pyramid caps standing on one shared base — Three obelisks on one base, for one family.

Black granite slant marker with a laser etched portrait and golf bag — A slant marker with a laser etched portrait.

Black and grey granite monument with a crescent and star, an etched portrait and an etched stone bridge — Lettered and etched for a family who came from elsewhere.

Black granite monument with a butterfly shaped top in orange, yellow and blue — Bailey Harris. Black granite from India, cut in the shape of a butterfly.

Black granite civic memorial with a police badge and the words Service Above Self — A civic memorial for police officers.

Black granite memorial and bench with carved doves and the words Say Her Name, in memory of Breonna Taylor — Breonna Taylor. Our staff worked "Say her name" into the design.

Black granite civic memorial honouring Air Force service — For those who served in the Air Force.

A finished walk-in granite mausoleum in grey and black, photographed in the fabrication shop — A walk-in mausoleum, finished and waiting to ship.

Large polished black granite ledger monument with laser etched portraits, being set in the ground — Black granite quarried in Asia. Six feet by five feet, eight inches thick, just over two tons.

Work we were asked to do

Some stones travel further than others.

The monument for Anna Nicole Smith and her son Daniel was built around the laser etchings of the two of them. It weighed so much that it had to go to the cemetery in the Bahamas by boat rather than by plane. We went with it and supervised the setting.

Larry Birkhead wrote to us afterwards: "I was honored to do business with an honest company from my hometown. They handled the project with sensitivity and compassion, overcoming many obstacles to deliver a truly beautiful stone on time."

We also made the monument for Breonna Taylor. Our staff worked the phrase "Say her name" into the design, because that is what people were saying.

A granite monument slung beneath a crane above an open grave, with the installation crew standing by — Setting the stone in the Bahamas.

Where the work goes

Twenty four states, and the Bahamas.

Our work can be seen in all the local Louisville cemeteries, including historic Cave Hill and Calvary. Most of what we do is here in Kentucky and the states around it.

But we have created and installed monuments in twenty four different states, and we ship to all fifty. We have arranged for the installation of a monument in Anchorage, Alaska, and travelled as far as the Caribbean to supervise the setting of a very large one.

When a stone goes outside the local area, we pay the freight and we arrange the installation. That is not an extra.

How it works

Five steps, and you can do all of them from your kitchen table.

If you would rather come in, come in. But nobody has to drive anywhere to get this done.

You tell us what you have in mind

Call us, or send an email describing it. It does not have to be a clear description. Most people begin with a name, a cemetery, and a feeling about the person.

We send you colour drawings

Showing the options actually available in your cemetery, not options in general. We contact the cemetery ourselves to check the stone meets all their rules and restrictions before anything is finalised.

You react, and we redraw

Change the shape, the granite, the lettering, the artwork. We revise it as many times as it takes. Nothing is manufactured until the drawing is right.

We handle the paperwork

By email, with payment options. If you are pre-planning, we can spread the cost over several years, and the price you agree today is the price, guaranteed not to increase.

We set it in the cemetery

The monument is manufactured and shipped to us, and we install it ourselves with a truck and a hydraulic crane. Then we ask you to come and inspect it. If you live out of town, we email you the photographs.

Evans Monument Company crew unloading a granite monument from a flatbed truck at a cemetery — Our own crew, our own truck, our own equipment.

Who you will be dealing with

A family business, run by the family.

Tom Evans Sr. handles family service and sales. He is an eighth generation Kentuckian with three sons living locally, holds degrees from Western Kentucky University and the University of Kentucky, and is an avid student of Kentucky history, an amateur genealogist and a member of the Filson Club.

Tom Evans Jr. runs the installations. He was born in Louisville, went to Ballard High School, and attended Hanover College and the University of Kentucky. He is a former high school baseball coach with over fifteen years in the monument business, working for both Rock of Ages Corporation and here. He is married to the former Deynese Johnson of Oldham County and they have four children.

Amanda Hartlage is our office manager, and is very often the person who answers when you call.

A man drilling into a granite mausoleum panel during assembly in the cemetery, with an excavator behind him — A mausoleum going together in the cemetery, panel by panel.

A bronze figure being lifted by crane from a truck, with a Louisville bridge over the Ohio River behind — A bronze coming off the truck, with the river behind it.

Accredited, and rated A+

An accredited Better Business Bureau member for more than fourteen years, holding an A+ rating, and the 2019 recipient of the BBB Torch Award for marketplace ethics.

Every stone guaranteed

Each stone we install carries a full replacement guarantee. If anything happens to your monument through craftsmanship or material defect, it is replaced at no charge to you.

The granite itself

Selected for its natural colour and quality, with no artificial colouring agents used on it. That is the whole reason a good stone still looks like itself in forty years.

Everything we do

Including the things people do not know to ask for.

Monuments

Traditional two piece uprights
Flat, serpentine and apex tops
Custom shapes, including hearts
Estate and vertical monuments
Two column and wing designs
Obelisks
Slant markers
Granite memorial benches

Larger work

Walk-in mausoleums
Above ground vaults and crypts
Civic monuments and statues
Memorials for those who served
Bronze grave markers
Bronze vases and emblems
Ceramic and bronze artwork
V.A. markers for veterans

For a stone already there

Adding lettering and dates
Monument cleaning
Monument repair
Reattaching broken pieces
Storm and accident damage
Vases and accessories
Pre-planning and payment plans
Direct cremation services

If a monument was damaged by a storm or an accident, we can repair it, even with a large crack or a piece broken off. Please keep any broken pieces, we may be able to reattach them. If it was damaged in the cemetery through human error, it may be covered by the cemetery's own insurance policy.

Questions families ask

The things nobody tells you.

How does the monument actually get to the cemetery?

We transport it and set it into place ourselves, using a truck with a hydraulic crane. When the work is done we notify you and ask you to inspect it, to make sure every specification has been met.

If you live out of town, we email you photographs of it standing where it stands.

What is a foundation, and do I need one?

Monuments are placed on top of a concrete footer, which is what keeps them stable and upright over the years.

Some cemeteries require that the footer be poured by their own employees, for a fee. In cemeteries without that requirement, we pour the concrete ourselves as part of the installation.

Can I install it myself and save the money?

Please do not. Anything other than a small marker should only be installed by an experienced monument company. An average size monument weighs several hundred pounds and needs specialised equipment to move safely.

What if the cemetery has rules about what is allowed?

Every cemetery does, and they all differ. Before anything is finalised we contact your cemetery ourselves to make sure the stone meets all of their rules and restrictions.

The drawings we send you show what is actually permitted where your family is buried, not a general catalogue.

Can you install a stone somewhere far away?

Yes. We ship to all fifty states, and we have created and installed monuments in twenty four of them and in the Bahamas. We have arranged an installation in Anchorage, Alaska, and travelled to the Caribbean to supervise a very large one.

If the stone goes outside the local area, we pay the freight and we arrange the installation.

What does it cost?

It depends on the size the cemetery allows, the granite you choose, and how much carving, lettering and etching it carries. There is no useful single figure, and we will not pretend there is.

Tell us roughly what you have in mind, and we will give you a real number with no obligation. Ask about cost on the first call if you want to. Nobody here will think less of you for it.

Should we do this in advance, before anyone dies?

Many people do, often as part of estate planning. It eases the burden on the family later, and it avoids disagreements about what kind of stone to use.

It also means you choose your own shape, granite colour, inscription and artwork rather than someone guessing. A couple's memorial is a joint decision, in the same way the rest of a life together was.

We can spread the cost over several years, and the price you pay is today's price, guaranteed not to increase. If you move away later, the memorial can be moved with you.

Do you also handle cremation?

Yes. Direct cremation services are available through us, alongside the monument work. If you want to talk about both at the same time, and most families would rather do that than deal with two different companies, call and ask.

Talk to us

Somebody answers, at any hour.

Our phone is answered 24 hours a day. Not by a machine and not by a call centre. Deaths do not arrange themselves around office hours, so neither do we.

Or come to Bardstown Road and stand in front of the stones. It is easier to choose that way than from a screen, and there is no appointment needed during opening hours.

Evans Monuments & Family Cremation Care
3204 Bardstown Road, Louisville, KY 40205
Just east of the Watterson Expressway, across from Thorntons.

502-458-1400
502-458-1155
contact@evansmonument.com

Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:30pm
Saturday, 9:00am to 12:00pm
Any time by appointment

Your name

Phone or email

Cemetery, if you know it

What can we help with

Anything you want to tell us

If it is easier to phone, please phone. 502-458-1400, any hour.