Brick Making Industry in Utah

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This page was last updated on September 18, 2024.

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Overview

(The following information about brick making in Utah focuses on those companies large enough to use railroads. Inbound clay for bricks and other clay products was received by rail, and the finished brick and clay products were shipped out by rail to destinations throughout the Intermountain and Western and Midwestern states.)

Most of the large brick making and clay tile companies got their start in the 1890s and grew throughout the following 40 years. Until the advent of automobile trucks and improved highways in the 1930s, all brick and clay tile shipments were by railroad.

Salt Lake Pressed Brick, and its successor Interstate Brick, was located in the general area of 3100 South and 1100 East, and was served by its own long spur, known as the Wilford Brick Spur, that branched off of the D&RGW Park City (later Sugar House) Branch. The Wilford Brick Spur was 1.5 miles in length. The spur first shows in the Rio Grande Western timetable for April 1902.

(The Wilford name comes from the destination being within the newly created Wilford Ward of the LDS church, which built its new building in 1901. The Wilford Ward itself was named for church leader Wilford Woodruff, who died in 1898. The Wilford Ward was bounded (north to south) by 2700 South and 3600 South, and (west to east) by 1100 East and the canal along 20th East.)

Utah Fire Clay had two locations. The earliest was at 1100 South between the Salt Lake & Utah tracks along First West, and the UP (OSL) Provo Subdivision. The second location was between the UP and D&RGW tracks in Murray, at about 4200 South (today's Fireclay Avenue, south of Big Cottonwood Creek).

Other companies in Ogden, Harrisville, Logan and Provo were served by spurs.

Advent of the wire cut or "stiff mud" process was one of the most important developments in brick making. After proper grinding the raw materials are mixed with water until the desired consistency is obtained. The mixture is then forced through a die into a continuous column. The bricks are cut by means of a series of wires, then transported into a drying area and finally taken to the kilns for "burning." (Ogden Standard Examiner, September 23, 1956)

October 9, 1908
Eight brick companies had their bricks tested at the University of Utah School of Mines laboratory. (Salt Lake Herald, October 9, 1908)

A directory of brick making companies in a 1922 issue of Utah Payroll magazine listed the following companies:

During 1931 there were eight brick-making plants in operation in Utah. The two largest were Salt Lake Pressed Brick, and Utah Fire Clay, with six smaller operations in Salt Lake City, Ogden and Provo. (Utah Resources and Activities, 1933, page 360)

November 1, 1936
The following description comes from the November 1, 1936 issue of the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper.

All clays are not of equal utility for the various purposes required. A clay which makes good backing brick may be a total loss for furnace lining and a good pipe clay may not be an outstanding success for the facing of a building. But Utah is fortunate in having many kinds of clay. If the right sort is not available in one locality it is pretty sure to be present in another. The result is a certain degree of specialization and a diversity of plants.

There are now operating in Utah six plants devoted exclusively to the manufacture of clay goods and silica refractories. They are located in Salt Lake City, Ogden, Provo, Murray and Smithfield. It would be useless to attempt to catalog the numerous small local brick plants scattered from one end of the state to the other. At the Salt Lake City plants one can purchase almost every article manufactured from clay. The following list will give you an idea of the diversity of these products:

Vitrified salt-glazed sewer pipe and fittings, farm drain tile, silica brick, fire brick, assayers' clay crucibles and scorifiers, fire clay shapes for boilers, locomotives, steel mills, foundries, etc., paving brick, high grade shale and fire clay face brick, clay face brick, common brick, hollow building and partition blocks, clay shingles, wall coping, flue lining, flower pots and all kindred clay products.

A list of brick making companies in Utah in 1936 included the following:

The following comes from the December 12, 1951 issue of the Deseret News newspaper.

By 1950, approximately 350 persons were directly employed by producers of brick and clay pipe, contributing an annual payroll of $1,123,000 to the state's economy.

Freight charges for clays do not permit long hauls from mines to plants. Therefore the industry is favorably located in respect to raw materials and markets since high grade deposits are found in abundance within a 50-mile radius of the producers.

Manufacturers are the Interstate Brick Company, the first plant of which was established in the Sugar House area by John P Cahoon and his brothers in 1878: Smithfield Brick and Tile Company, organized in 1901; Utah Fire Clay Company, formed in 1904: the Provo Brick and Tile Company, and the Harrisville Brick Company.

Interstate Brick

Interstate Brick company was located at 3100 South and 1100 East in Salt Lake City.

The company started as the Salt Lake Pressed Brick company in 1891 and was changed to the Interstate Brick company in 1936. It remained at the Wilford location until 1972 when it moved to West Jordan, and is still in business today.

Salt Lake Pressed Brick very soon became the largest brick and clay products manufacturer in the state, with Utah Fire Clay coming in as a close second.

(Read more about the Interstate Brick company, and its predecessor Salt Lake Pressed Brick company)

Utah Fire Clay Company

As mentioned above, Utah Fire Clay had two locations in Salt Lake City. The earliest was at 1100 South between the Salt Lake & Utah tracks along First West, and the UP (OSL) Provo Subdivision. The second location, originally known as Western Fire Clay, was between the UP and D&RGW tracks in Murray, at about 4200 South, where in later years, a street was named Fireclay Avenue.

(Read more about the Utah Fire Clay company, and the Western Fire Clay company)

Ogden Brick Making

There were two brick making locations in Ogden.

"At one time in Weber County brick was manufactured in at least 30 places. There were seven yards in one short stretch along Jefferson Avenue between 28th and 33rd streets." By 1908, when wire-cutting became the preferred method of making brick, there was only the Ogden Pressed Brick & Tile company, and the Leek Brick company. (Ogden Standard Examiner, September 23, 1956)

Ogden Pressed Brick & Tile Company

(Harrisville, 1899-1949) (Changed to Harrisville Brick in 1949; still in business)

September 6, 1899
The Ogden Pressed Brick & Tile Company was incorporated in Weber County on September 6, 1899. The yard and factory were located in Harrisville "on the O.S.L. Ry." (Salt Lake Herald, September 7, 1899, "yesterday"; Deseret News, December 15, 1900)

1903
The Ogden Pressed Brick & Tile company was reorganized in 1903 when William H. Child bought into the company. Child remained as president and general manager from 1903 until the mid 1920s. Upon his retirement due to ill health, he was replaced by his son, John M. Child. W.H. Child passed away in October 1930.

June 7, 1916
"The Ogden, Logan & Idaho company has built a spur track to a large clay bank, near the Ririe home In Ogden canyon, for the Ogden Pressed Brick & Tile company. The spur is about 1600 foot long, and reaches one of the best clay banks in the country for making brick. The clay will be transported by rail to the brick yards at Harrisville." (Ogden Standard Examiner, June 7, 1916)

February 14, 1920
"The Ogden company specializes in four types of brick and in hollow building tile. The brick are distinguished as red, white, mottled, and tapestry. They make the assertion that the tapestry red brick is as good or better than any made in eastern plants. The red brick made by the Ogden Pressed Brick & Tile company is manufactured from clay that is taken from a large bed of the material in Ogden valley, just east of Ogden canyon. So good has this clay proved to be for the manufacture of this particular brick that the company has purchased a tract of 300 acres of it, to insure a future supply. The plant is located at Harrisville, on both the Utah Idaho Central electric railroad and on the Oregon Short Line steam road, so that excellent facilities for shipping brick are at hand. Shipments are made to all parts of Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada and recently a shipment of one and one half million brick was sent to Council Bluffs, Iowa, an indication that the reputation of the product is growing." (Ogden Standard Examiner, February 14, 1920)

October 27, 1931
The Ogden Pressed Brick & Tile company received approval from the Utah Public Service Commission for UP's Oregon Short Line to charge a reduced rate for 140 carloads of bricks (about 3 million bricks) to be shipped from the Harrisville brick yard to Salt Lake City for use in the new Veteran's hospital. The brick company had threatened to make the entire shipment by truck unless the reduced rate was approved. There was public outcry and testimony against the potential of hundreds of then-much smaller automobile trucks traveling between Ogden and Salt Lake City, although trucks were still required to move the bricks from the Salt Lake City rail yards to the hospital site. (Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake Telegram, Ogden Standard Examiner, October 23 through October 30, 1931)

After the closure of the Leek Brick company in 1942, the Ogden Pressed Brick & Tile company was the only brick making company in Weber County.

December 3, 1946
A large fire destroyed the face-brick manufacturing building and wire-cutting machines of the Ogden Pressed Brick & Tile company. Water to fight the fire was only available by stringing hoses over 1000 feet, and the building was almost a complete loss. (Ogden Standard Examiner, December 4, 1946)

(There was no newspaper coverage of events between the December 1946 fire, and the February 1947 announcement for production resuming.)

February 16, 1947
Ogden Pressed Brick & Tile was under new ownership and new management. Brick production had resumed at the Harrisville plant. "New facilities, more modern machines, and new brick making techniques." (Ogden Standard Examiner, February 16, 1947)

January 16, 1948
The following comes from the January 16, 1948 issues of the Ogden Standard Examiner newspaper.

New brick-making equipment, including a crusher and grinder machinery, representing an investment of $20,000, was received today by the Ogden Pressed Brick and Tile Co., according to Edward Radford, owner.

This new equipment, together with other new brick-making machinery, which has been installed since the disastrous fire of Dec., 1946, will allow the company to produce more bricks, and of a higher quality bricks than ever before, said Radford. The new machinery is not a replacement, but an addition of latest equipment in the brick-making field, he added.

The Ogden Pressed Brick and Tile Co. is the only brick making concern in the Ogden vicinity, and an increased output is planned this spring. "We are putting our new equipment in place as rapidly as possible, so we will be ready for the spring building boom which is indicated by construction men in Ogden," Radford said. The present brick output capacity is 20,000 per day, he said. This is enough brick for from three to four houses.

Harrisville Brick Company

April 19, 1949
An ad showed the new, reorganized company as the Harrisville Brick Company "formerly Ogden Pressed Brick & Tile Co." "Continuous Operation for Over Sixty-five Years." (Ogden Standard Examiner, April 19, 1949)

September 6, 1949
A special meeting of shareholders of the Ogden Pressed Brick & Tile Company was held to change the name of the company to Harrisville Brick Company. (Ogden Standard Examiner, August 13, 1949, public notice published every day until the meeting)

February 23, 1956
"Construction is under way on a new railroad-type kiln at the Harrisville Brick Co. plant, a project to cost and estimated $175,000. It is hoped the project will be ready for "first firing" early in June. The new kiln, combined with a double-track dryer, will be housed in a structure 290 feet long. When completed it will add a 30,000 brick-per-day capacity to the company's output — enough face brick to build 40 average brick homes per week. The new plant will double the present capacity of the company." (Ogden Standard Examiner, February 23, 1956)

April 29, 1961
"Gladding, McBean & Co., has acquired Harrisville Brick Co., Ogden producer of face brick, for an undisclosed price, C. W. Planje, Los Angeles, president of Gladding, McBean, reported Friday. Harrisville had sales last year of about three-quarters of a million dollars. The purchase was for cash. The acquisition of Harrisville expands our market area in the important Intermountain states of Utah and Idaho. The firm, which will operate for the time being as a Gladding, McBean subsidiary, manufactures a broad line of face brick enjoying a wide acceptance by architects, builders and masonry contractors in its marketing area," Mr. Planje said." Joseph E. Stevens (former manager of Murray Refractories and predecessor Utah Fire Clay's Murray operation) was named manager of Utah production operations, which includes the former Murray Refractories plant at Murray; the former Utah Fire Clay plant, Salt Lake City and the newly acquired Harrisville plant.(Salt Lake Tribune, April 29, 1961)

(Read more about Murray Refractories and predecessor Utah Fire Clay)

July 19, 1962
Gladding, McBean & Company became International Pipe and Ceramics Corporation after merging with Lock Joint Pipe Company of East Orange, New Jersey. (Salt Lake Tribune, July 19, 1962) (The merger was approved by shareholders of both companies on August 24, 1962 - Salt Lake Tribune, August 24, 1962)

April 2, 1963
International Pipe and Ceramics began using the trade name "Interpace." Interpace announced that the expansion of the Harrisville face brick plant was almost complete. (Salt Lake Tribune, April 2, 1963)

May 15, 1968
International Pipe and Ceramics Corporation officially changed their name to Interpace Corporation, "our official and only corporate name." (Ogden Standard Examiner, May 15, 1958)

(After 1968 the former Harrisville Brick plant in Harrisville became the sole business for Interpace in Utah.)

April 18, 1975
Due to damage from a recent earthquake, the 100-year-old, 140-foot Hoffman Kiln smokestack at the Harrisville Brick company was demolished. (Ogden Standard Examiner, April 18, 1975)

May 25, 1975
"Interpace - the trade version of International Pipe and Ceramics Corp. - is producing some 11-1/2 million bricks a year for local contractors and sells another million made by company plants elsewhere in the United States. Working around the clock, company workers keep the brick kiln fired up seven days a week to turn out 1,500 bricks an hour in a relentless effort to meet Northern Utah construction needs." (Ogden Standard Examiner, May 25, 1975)

Brick making in Harrisville continues today [2024] as the HHI Corporation, in the same 1899 location as the original Ogden Pressed Brick & Tile company. The current address is 736 West Harrisville Road.

Ashton Fire Brick & Tile Company

(Ogden, 1915-1938; owned by Salt Lake Pressed Brick interests)

(Not to be confused with the Ashton Brick & Tile company in Salt Lake City, 1902-1907)

Ogden -- The Ogden location of Ashton Fire Brick & Tile company was initially owned by the Leek Brick company from 1887 to 1915, and was purchased in 1915 by the Salt Lake Pressed Brick interests in the name of the Ashton Fire Brick & Tile company.

Salt Lake City -- The Ashton Brick & Tile company was originally located in Salt Lake City. Its brick plant at that location was sold to Western Fire Clay company in 1907. Western Fire Clay opened its location in Murray initially using the Ashton Brick & Tile name, but by 1910 the site was being operated by the Western Fire Clay company, and later by the Utah Fire Clay company.

(Read more about the Ashton Brick & Tile company in Salt Lake City)

In 1887, Richard Leek began shoveling clay on 29th Street and Jefferson Avenue for brick making, and brick making has been made on the same plot of ground ever since, under the direction of Mr. Leek. The first company in 1887 was known as Calvert, Lancaster & Leek, producing 20,000 bricks per day. In 1900 machinery was purchased to increase production to 30,000 bricks per day. In 1900, Mr. Lancaster withdrew from the business and it became known as Calvert & Leek. In 1908, Mr. Leek purchased sole ownership and the company became the Leek Brick company, producing 45,000 bricks per day. By 1915 production had reached 100,000 bricks per day, and in that year Mr. Leek sold his interest and the company became Ashton Fire Brick & Tile company. In 1917, Leek was hired as manager and he has remained in that position ever since, serving as the prime mover of the brick industry in Ogden.(Ogden Standard Examiner, February 28, 1922)

By 1923 material was still being taken from the ground at 29th Street and Jefferson Avenue, except that the clay for red brick is trucked from Ogden Valley near Huntsville. There are seven new kilns and the plant is producing 1,200,000 bricks per day. (Ogden Standard Examiner, February 28, 1923)

November 1, 1915
The following comes from the November 1, 1915 issue of the Ogden Standard Examiner newspaper.

A force of brick masons started work this morning on the first of seven kilns to be erected at the brickyards of the Ashton Fire-Brick & Tile company, between Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth streets, on Jefferson avenue.

With the building of a spur track from the street car lines to the yards, many improvements will be made, including the building of a stack 9 feet in diameter and 190 feet high. The kilns and chimney will require 350,000 bricks.

S. D. Bradford, who is local business manager, says the plant will employ from 75 to 100 men when completed, and will specialize in the manufacture of dark red brick made from shale brought from extensive beds near Henefer. Utah.

The stack will be the highest in Ogden, and will be built by Farran, who has had a wide experience in that work.

May 16, 1916
Ashton Fire Brick Company of Ogden. "J.P. Cahoon and J.B Cahoon, his son, are president and manager of the company." (Brick and Clay Record magazine, May 16, 1916)

February 12, 1917
The following comes from the February 12, 1917 issue of the Ogden Standard Examiner newspaper.

Improvements aggregating more than $30,000 have just been made to the plant of the Ashton Fire Brick & Tile Company at Jefferson avenue and Twenty-ninth street, and the company now stands as one of the finest establishments of its kind in the West. The business of the company has been increasing from month to month until now it is working at full capacity, filling orders in Utah, Idaho, Montana and Nevada.

Although owned and controlled by the Ashton Fire Brick & Tile company just two years, the institution is primarily Ogden's pioneer brick manufacturing plant, being the only one located within the city limits. The business was established in 1887 by the Leek Brick company. Taken over by its present owner, Richard Leek, formerly connected with the old company, was retained as manager at the plant, supervising operations there and attending to the business generally.

All the brick and tile made at the plant and shipped to points outside the city is handled by the Ogden, Logan & Idaho Railway company which completed the extension of its system by the construction of a branch line in Jefferson avenue to the property last summer. This line is known as the Jefferson Avenue car line.

The company erected the largest stack in the state to carry away the smoke created by kiln fires which are kept burning constantly as a part of the brick making process. This stack is one hundred and ninety feet high and has an average diameter of more than fifteen feet. More than 250,000 brick were used in the construction.

The improvements, practically all of which were completed during 1916, also embraced the construction of five new down-draft kilns, all of the latest pattern. The new machinery installed included such devises used in making tile and brick as the latest wire cut and dry presses.

The increased real estate holdings includes the largest clay bank in the state and a shale bed in Weber canyon. This shale bed also is one of the largest in area in the Ogden section of the intermountain country.

Despite the expansion made in the way of substantial building improvements the company of which J. P. Cahoon [Salt Lake Pressed Brick Co.] is president, has laid definite plans for additional improvements during the present year.

May 31, 1938
The Ashton Fire Brick & Tile company was sold at a sheriff's sale on May 31, 1938, stemming from an unpaid mortgage from First Security Trust Company. (Ogden Standard Examiner, May 30, 1938)

Leek Brick & Tile Company

June 2, 1929
"Property leased - The Ashton Fire Brick and Tile company property at Twenty-ninth street and Jefferson avenue, has been leased by the Leek Brick company, of which Richard Leek is manager." (Ogden Standard Examiner, June 2, 1929)

The last reference to the "Leek Brick Company" was in October 1930.

The name of Leek Brick & Tile Company, at 29th Street and Jefferson Avenue first appears in online newspapers in April 1931.

The later Leek Brick & Tile company at 29th Street and Jefferson Avenue went out of business in 1942, because the company was unable to upgrade its machinery and process to include the latest "de-airing" process that increased the speed of the drying stage after the bricks were formed, and prior to being "burned" in the kilns.

December 7, 1944
The smokestack and property of the former Leek Brick & Tile company was offered to Ogden City in lieu of payment of back taxes owed to the city. The property was still occupied by the smokestack, kilns and small buildings. The area being offered covered the entire city block. The city accepted the "gift" and sold it to a developer in January 1945. (Ogden Standard Examiner, December 7, 1944; January 4, 1945)

Richard Leek passed away on April 21, 1951 at age 86. His family had immigrated from England in 1873 when he was 8 years old, and his father had entered into the brick making business. Leek's father and James Calvert began the bricking making business as Calvert and Leek in 1887. The company operated for 24 years (to about 1911) when Richard Leek bought out Calvert's interest. (Ogden Standard Examiner, April 23, 1951)

Other Brick Making Companies

Bountiful Brick Co.

"The brickyard between 500 and 1500 South, and west of 200 West, was operated in turn by the Kirk Brick, Improved Brick, and Bountiful Brick companies, who made more bricks than any other Utah firm. Bountiful Brick Co., owned and operated by John S. and Bertha W. Ledingham, sold the land in 1930, dismantled the kilns, and sold even those bricks. All of the brickyards closed during the Depression." (Historical Marker at Bountiful Brickyard Park, 232 West 1050 South, Bountiful)

Bountiful Brick and its predecessors were adjacent to and were served by a spur of the Bamberger Railroad.

Gessel Pressed Brick Co., Logan

Prior to the organization of the Gessel Brick company as a corporation, G. Gessel operated a brick kiln in Logan as early as 1903. In later years the company was under the management of Jacob Gessel.

March 15, 1906
The Gessel Pressed Brick company was incorporated in Logan. The company's business was to be in Logan, Utah. (Deseret News, March 15, 1906)

July 16, 1907
The Gessel Pressed Brick company's brick yard was located at Sixth North and Sixth West in Logan. (Logan Journal, July 16, 1907)

April 11, 1908
"The Gessel Brick Company of this city has ordered new machinery to be added to their plant at a cost of $5,000. When installed they will have a capacity of 10,000 dry pressed brick and 40,000 common brick per day. It is expected that the new machinery will be installed within thirty days.—Logan Republican." (Truth magazine, April 11, 1908)

December 24, 1908
Gessel Brick Company - "This firm prides itself on having one of the latest, most improved and up-to-date plants in the state. It manufactures a superior cream colored and red pressed brick that are better than those that have been shipped in heretofore. Their wire-cut brick are equal to any brick manufactured in the state. The capacity of their plant is 10,000 to 12,000 pressed, and 35,000 to 40,000 wire cut brick per 10 hours. With a large stock of both pressed and wire-cut brick on hand they are in a position to fill all orders whether it be 1,000 or 1,000,000, so there need be no more money sent out of Cache county for brick, in patronizing this firm you will build up your town and county." (Logan Journal, December 24, 1908)

(The last reference in available online newspapers to either Gessel Pressed Brick company, or Gessel Brick company was in a general list of manufacturers in Cache County on December 4, 1922.)

Lehi Brick Co.

Portions of the following come from a history written by Richard Van Wagoner, published on October 7, 1992 in the Lehi Free Press newspaper.

Brick for homes and businesses in Lehi were first imported by wagon and railroad from brick companies, mostly in Salt Lake City.

In 1891 two young men named Salzner and Gray visited brick works in Salt Lake City and afterwards purchased a brick-making machine from George Lowe. When the machine arrived in Lehi by rail during the first week in August 1891, it was set up at their "Lehi Brick Company" on the site of present-day General Refractories, first known as Lehi Junction and later as Cutler.

Salzner & Gray's machine had a capacity for making twenty thousand bricks per day and employed twenty men in the process. The first kiln of brick was burned during the last week of September 1891.

By mid-1892 Lehi Brick, under new management (Joseph Meirs, Newburn Butt and William Simmons), became Lehi Manufacturing and Brick Company (Lehi M and B).

In 1893 Nephi W. Slater applied for work at a Lehi Junction adobe pit being operated by Andrew Field and Abel John Evans. Told there was no work available, Slater and his brothers James and Joseph, and brother-in-law John Mitchell, purchased Lehi M. and B. Company from Meirs, Butt, and Simmons.

The clay in this area lay on the surface; no stripping of overburden was required to reach the material. Two different types of clay were available in Lehi Junction deposits. The top twelve inches was a uniform red­colored material, whereas the underlying six or eight feet was a light, yellow clay.

The clay was loosened by a two-horse scraper which moved the material into a pit where water was added. After the mixture was allowed to temper for twenty-four hours, the gooey substance was shoveled into a horse­powered pug mill where it was thoroughly mixed. After being removed it was thrown into the three-brick molds, marked with a large S, and allowed to dry in the sun.

After hardening in the sun, the bricks were emptied from their mods and stacked in a kiln which the Slater brothers had built on the site. The brick oven, twelve feet high, sixteen feet wide, and thirty feet long, held 120,000 bricks. The heating, using coal as the fuel source, and cooling process required about twenty days for a complete cycle.

Slater's brickworks required six men. A day's work was considered finished when one unit (five thousand bricks) had been taken from the pit, molded, and stacked in the kiln.

Eventually Nephi Slater's brothers drifted into other concerns, and John Mitchell opened a competitive brickyard at the Lehi Junction. But he, like James Powell and Henry Kemp's later brickyard from about 1906, did not stay in business for long.

In 1914, Slater and his friend Olaf Holmstead formed Slater and Holmstead Brick Company, but Holmstead withdrew the following year. Eleven years later another prominent Lehi mason, Chase Featherstone, bought out Slater's interest. The plant was in operation until 1925.

Provo Pressed Brick Co.

The Provo Pressed Brick company operated in Provo from 1891 to 1920, when it was reorganized as the Provo Pressed Brick & Tile company. Operations ended in 1964 and the site became the location of a Burger King restaurant at 1620 North 200 West.

(Read more about the Provo Pressed Brick company, and its successor the Provo Pressed Brick & Tile company)

Smithfield Brick & Tile Co., Smithfield

March 16, 1909
The Smithfield Brick and Tile company was organized. (Logan Journal, March 16, 1909)

February 19, 1914
"Manufacturers of Building Brick, Hollow Building Blocks, Drain Tile and Lime." (Logan Republican, February 19, 1914)

December 18, 1915
"The surface soil over the ground at Smithfield is generally of a black loam but under this there exists a 16 foot depth of clay shale which burn into a very good grade of brick. The Smithfield Brick and Tile company has been formed to develop these clay beds and now produces a special grade of wire cut face brick, an excellent grade of hollow building tile, and porous drain tile for farm purposes. The wire out face brick are of a cream color and most of the later buildings of Smithfield are representive of the use of this brick, the new First Ward meeting houe and the Union hall being examples of thie brickwork. The Smithfield company not only serves the Smithfield district with brick building material but is conveniently located with a railroad siding so that it can ship to all state points and during the year the shipments from this company have well covered different points in southern Idaho and northern Utah. W. R. Deppe operates this company and is just closing his eighth year at the Smithfield plant, having been over double that time in the business. The Smithfield plant has been in active operation and servie and has a capacity ranging between 16,000 and 25,000 brick per day. The plant is equipped with a complete steam plant, a stiff-mud press, and steam heated drying sheds. The latter feature allows the brick to receive a thorough seasoning during all seasons of the year as well as producing a better grade of work than could be secured by open air methods." (Deseret News, December 18, 1915)

June 1, 1918
"The Smithfield Brick and Tile company has shipped two cars of brick to Hyrum, two cars to Preston and three to Soda Springs this month, besides supplying the local demand." (Logan Journal, June 1, 1918)

September 7, 1920
"The Smithfield company have all the business they can handle at the present time in their lines of brick and drain tile. They have just placed a larger engine, doubling their power, and have installed an automatic brick cutter which is doing excellent work. They hope to build some new down-draft kilns in the near future." (Brick and Clay Record magazine, September 7, 1920)

December 24, 1935
"The Smithfield Brick and Tile Co., has been a big asset to Smithfield. Since 1909 it has been in active operation. During the past season this company turned out two million brick, employed thirty men and had a payroll of $18,000." (Cache American, December 24, 1935)

March 23, 1939
"The plant has a monthly output of over 1-1/2 million brick, and gives employment to 30 to 40 men for at least eight months of the year. There are seven great brick kilns at the plant with a total burning capacity of 1-1/2 million brick. Six choice varieties of brick are made besides two sizes of hollow building block tile. Four sizes of drain tile are manufactured." (Cache American, March 23, 1939)

September 5, 1944
"William R. Deppe, 78, president and manager of the Smithfield Brick and Tile company and a resident of Smithfield for 43 years died shortly after midnight today following a week's illness. He was born February 4, 1866 in Smithfield, a son of William and Margaret Parkinton Deppe and had lived in Smitfield since 1901, when he founded the brick and tile company that operates there." (Cache American, September 5, 1944)

August 5, 1950
When the Smithfield Brick and Tile company opened in March 1909 its capacity was 16,000 bricks per day. In 1950 the plant was producing 35,000 bricks per day from its ten kilns. The clay material for the bricks comes from huge pits adjacent to the factory, and from Dry Canyon, east of Smithfield. The kilns each hold about 240,000 bricks, which are burned for 16 days. The markets for the company extend into Ogden, Brigham City, Montpelier, Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Cache Valley, Salt Lake City and into most areas of Utah and surrounding states. The bricks are trucked to customers, or customers pick up their brick orders at the plant. (Logan Herald Journal, August 5, 1950)

The Smithfield Brick & Tile company's brick yard was at Fourth North and Third West in Smithfield. The company closed in 1951. (Cache Citizen, October 31, 1974)

United Brick Co.

The United Brick Company was incorporated in April 1956 and built a face brick plant on six acres directly north of the existing General Refractories fire brick plant at Lehi. The United Brick plant was in operation by September 1956 when the company's first kiln was finished and the first brick produced. (Provo Herald, April 1, 1956; September 2, 1956)

United States Fire Clay Co., Murray

The United States Fire Clay company was organized in February 1915 as the first manufacturer of terra cotta tile in Utah. Their location was between the two railroad mainlines in Murray, "between Sixteenth and Seventeenth South (today's 4500 and 4800 South). Buildings were constructed and equipment installed and production began on September 1, 1915. The tract encompasses seven acres where sewer pipe will be manufactured. The terra cotta plant would be in operation by June or July. A building was soon to be built for the manufacture of silica (or fire) bricks. The clay for these bricks was to come from a 98 percent pure deposit at the mouth of Big Cottonwood canyon. The current production of fire brick was being made from a deposit near Arco, Idaho, 266 miles distant and shipped to Salt Lake City by rail. (Salt Lake Mining Review, November 30, 1915, with photos)

By April 1919, the company was shown as being in default for lack of payment of corporation license tax to the State of Utah. This usually indicated that the company was out of business. The last ad for the company in the Salt Lake Mining Review was in the November 15, 1916 issue.

Refractories

Refractory bricks are special bricks used in high temperature applications where high heat and continued heating and cooling do not weaken the bricks. These are used in smelter and steel furnaces and include a wide variety of special shapes that are needed to protect the furnaces. Among the special shapes as cast plugs for smelter and furnace tap holes which when removed allow molten metal to flow in molds.

General Refractories Company

General Refractories was the successful bidder on the sale of the Lehi silica fire brick plant built by the Defense Plant Corporation during World War II to supply the Geneva steel mill. After the war, the plant was being sold as surplus by the War Assets Administration.

The Lehi silica fire brick plant was built on the site of a brick plant started in 1893 by three brothers, Nephi, Joseph and James Slater when they started the Slater Brick Company. The plant furnished almost all the bricks for homes and businesses in Lehi and was in operation until about 1925.

The plant had cost $600,000 to build, and was located on 14-1/2 acres in Lehi, adjacent to and served by Union Pacific's Provo Subdivision. The plant was comprised of one main manufacturing building, a locker building, an office building and a storage shed. The sale included six kilns, machine tools, brick making equipment and laboratory and testing equipment and portable tools. (Lehi Free Press, September 20, 1946)

(Read more about General Refractories and its plant at Lehi)

Murray Refractories

Murray Refractories took over the Murray location of Utah Fire Clay company, which had built the plant in 1910 to produce fire bricks for the local smelter industry. Murray Refractories operated the site until it merged with Gladding, McBean & Co. in 1961. Gladding McBean exited the Salt Lake City fire brick market in 1962, closing the Murray plant at the time, or very soon after. Gladding McBean remained in the commercial face brick market until late 1967 when it exited that market also due to local competition.

(The story of Murray Refractories and Gladding, McBean & Company)

Block Manufacturers

There is additional research yet to be completed about the many cinder block and cement block manufacturers in Utah.

These include Lehi Block & Perlite in Utah County, and Buehner Block in Salt Lake County.

More Information

Brick Making -- A PDF at the Brick Industry Association, explaining how bricks are made.

Photos

Interstate Brick Photos

Salt Lake Pressed Brick, and Provo Pressed Brick Photos

Murray Refractories and General Refractories Photos

Trade Publications

Brick magazine and Clay Record magazine were combined in 1911 as Brick and Clay Record magazine.

Brick and Clay Record magazine -- Links to the digital versions of Brick and Clay Record magazine (1911-1923) at HathiTrust. (Also This Link for individual issues at Internet Archive)

Brick magazine -- Link to the digital versions of Brick magazine (Monthly; 1894-1910) at HathiTrust.

Clay Record magazine -- Link to the digital versions of Clay Record magazine (Semi-Monthly; 1892-1909) at HathiTrust.

The Clay Worker -- Link to the digital versions of The Clay Worker (1889-1928), the magazine of the National Brick Manufacturers Association, at the Internet Archive. (Also This Link)

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