Barton is a family-owned company that has produced the world’s highest-quality garnet abrasives for more than five generations. When Barton was founded in 1878, the Civil War had been over for only 13 years, Rutherford B. Hayes was President of the United States and Lucius Robinson was governor of New York. The company’s initial operation included mining and milling garnet for the sandpaper industry. Because of its ever-sharp crystalline structure Barton garnet quickly became the world stand