Red brick can be made at almost any place in the county. This has been demonstrated at Austin, Lansing, Le Roy and Frankford. At present there is no great demand for brick, and several establishments that were started have suspended operations. The Mower county court house, just finished, is one of the finest in the state. It is built of red pressed-brick from St. Louis, but red brick from Austin were used in the inner walls. (The Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota, Volume I, 1872-1882, N. H. Winchell and Warren Upham, Johnson, Smith & Harrison, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1884, Page 366)
(Jerry B.) Yates and (V. P.) Lewis started the first brickyard in Austin. (The History of Mower County Minnesota, Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge, H. C. Cooper, Jr., & Co., Chicago, 1911, Page 980)
A directory of Austin, published in June, 1867, gives the following names of those engaged in business and in the professions here at that time. Brick makers: Morse & Tuttle, Webb Brothers. (The History of Mower County Minnesota, Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge, H. C. Cooper, Jr., & Co., Chicago, 1911, Page 203)
In 1868, about the time of incorporation, the village contained… In the manufacturing line there were… …three brickyards… (The History of Mower County Minnesota, Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge, H. C. Cooper, Jr., & Co., Chicago, 1911, Page 182)
Page 208. In 1876, Centennial year, the business and professional progress of Austin was represented as follows:
Page 209. Bridge street - …A. H. Alsip, brick maker… (The History of Mower County Minnesota, Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge, H. C. Cooper, Jr., & Co., Chicago, 1911, Page 980)
The brick manufactured here has entered into the construction of many important buildings in the Northwest, including the postoffice at LaCrosse. (The History of Mower County Minnesota, Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge, H. C. Cooper, Jr., & Co., Chicago, 1911, Page 213)
Mower County. Brick can be made at almost any place in the county. Three miles northeast of Lansing Mr. John Just is engaged in brick-making. At Austin Mr. A. H. Alsip now manufactures brick. Formerly they were also made by Smith, Tuttle and Tracy, and by Horace Webb. Mr. Alsip lays his own brick in the wall for $12.50 and $13.00 per thousand. He makes a sand-mold brick, free from lime, but rather soft. He burns the common surface, taking off about three inches, so as to remove the grass-roots. During the year he has made about 550,000, oak wood costing about $6.50 per cord. At Austin a light-colored brick from Watertown, Wisconsin, is somewhat used. Brick from Chaska, Carver county, are delivered on the cars for $8, costing $13 at Austin. The lime used at Austin is mostly from Mitchell, Iowa. (The Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota, The Third Annual Report, For The Year 1874, N. H. Winchell, St. Paul Press Company, St. Paul, 1875, Page 186)