A Pottery Clay Find. Special to the Globe. AUSTIN, Minn., March 12. – A fine bed of pottery clay has been discovered on Guy’s Park addition to the city of Austin. The clay is of a superior quality and a company will be formed to manufacture pottery from it. (The Saint Paul Daily Globe, Sunday Morning, March 13, 1887, Volume IX, Number 72, Page 1)
BOOM! BOOM! Bonanza In A Clay Bank – Brick and Tile Promised in Great Quantities – A $100,000 Company to be Organized at Once – The Most Valuable Find of the Season – Valuable Clay in Austin. AUSTIN’s clay deposits are beginning to attract attention at home and abroad. Experts declare the Austin clays are of great value for paints, crockery, putty, tile and brick making. The clay is found in a variety of colors and seems to be in inexhaustible quantities. If present indications are fulfilled, Austin has something in her clay banks that will add more to her growth and prosperity than any agency here. Messrs. Shepherd and Guy took a quantity of clay to Red Wing to be baked in the pottery there. Monday night they returned with samples of crockery made from it. The tests to which it was submitted show that it will equal or excel any clay in the state for the manufacture of pottery, tiling, terra cotta and fine brick. A company will be formed immediately with a capital of $100,000 for the manufacture of pressed brick. The machinery will be here and in operation in thirty days. The are confident of being able to make pressed brick of the very finest quality. As the business develops, machinery for the manufacture of tiling, terra cotta and crockery will be put in.
A $15,000 plant will be put in at once at the new brickyard. It will be located on Mr. Guy’s land in the triangle between the Minnesota & Northwestern and Milwaukee roads. Mr. Shepherd goes to Chicago next week for the machinery. A man has been engaged at $1,600 a year to burn the brick for the company. They will start with three kilns. The Austin brick will fill a vacancy in this state, as the best brick has been obtained from St. Louis and Milwaukee. The brick burned from the Austin clay is pronounced equal to the St. Louis brick, and is worth about $35 per thousand here now. Located at the crossing of the two railroads, short side tracks will be all that will be needed to put the brick directly on two of the principal railroad lines of the state. (Austin, Mower County, Minnesota, Wednesday, April 27, 1887)
A stock company has been organized at Austin, Minn., consisting of Isaac Guy, R. E. Shepard, G. Schlender, N. Kingsley, F. I. Crane and C. H. Davidson, with a capital of $100,000, to develop the Austin Clay beds. The company will manufacture pressed brick, pottery, terra cotta, paint and putty. The supply of clay is practically exhaustless and is found in a variety of colors. (Western Appeal, St. Paul and Minneapolis, May 7, 1887, Volume II, Number 49, Page 2)
The second cause for new life at Austin is the great discovery made this spring of a remarkable deposit of clay known now to extend many feet thick under at least 120 acres of land within the city limits. It was first observed in a cut made by the Minnesota and Northwestern R. R. It is found in various colors, white, pea green, pink, kaolin, yellow acture [unknown word], and nunitian [unknown word] red. In amount it is practically inexhaustible. A chemical analysis made at Yale College pronounced it available for making pressed brick of superior quality, equal, at least, to St. Louis pressed brick, also for making pottery and white ware, draining tile roofing tile, and all forms of terra cotta. Specimens of the clay sent to Eastern potteries elicit eager inquiries as to the amount of such deposit, stating that they have subjected the material to various severe tests and find it superior in quality to any clay known for the finest pottery. Isaac Guy, to whom the credit of the discovery belongs, has made various experiments in his private coal stove producing wonderful results. He carries specimens in every pocket and not to mention a large deposit on his boot. His tests prove that the best mineral paint can be made from the clay. The specimen from his pants pocket proves the best lithographing stone can be made from it. The Austin Pressed Brick Co. has just been formed with a capital stock of $100,000. The incorporators are R. E. Shepherd, Isaac Guy, C. H. Davidson, J. B. Emerson, N. Kingsley, G. Schlender, F. I. Crane and W. Whitesell. Whitesell was formerly with Minnesota Stoneware Company of Redwing, a man of 20 years practical experience in the business. He has been employed as superintendent of the new company. The necessary machinery has been purchased. The sheds and other buildings are in progress, located between the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and the Minnesota and Northwestern railroads close to both. Orders are already being received for the first output of the new works. We might add that a letter from the President of the Minnesota Stone Manufacturing Company of Minneapolis finds in grinding samples of the ochre in oil that it gives the finest base for the manufacture of paint.
The officials of the different railroads centering here have investigated the deposits and are satisfied of its value. The Milwaukee road has purchased 40 acres supposed to be underlaid with the valuable clay. The supply is exhaustless but its depth varies. On the farm of Isaac Guy north of Milwaukee Railroad depot it comes to the surface and can be reached. It is rumored that President Stickney is desirous of opening of a large earthenware and paint works on the line of his road here, if he can purchase the desired property. A number of experts have been here to investigate, and their conclusions confirm previous opinions. The facilities for handling are unsurpassed as the beds lie along the tracks of both the Minnesota & Northwestern and Milwaukee railroads so that fuel and products can be handled at a minimum. The samples of the present brick both white and red, and of the very finest quality, will be on the market. Other machinery for the manufacture of pottery, terra cotta pottery and paint will be put in this summer and this new industry will be made one of the most important in southern Minnesota. Additional experiments made at Red Wing and at St. Louis fully confirm opinions already formed. The supply of clay is practically exhaustless and is found in a variety of colors. (The Minneapolis Tribune, Saturday Morning, June 11, 1887, Pages 6-7)
B. F. Farmer, of Spring Valley, was in the city yesterday. Mr. Farmer is a prominent citizen in that part of the country and has just returned from Austin, where a company has been organized for manufacturing brick. There is an inexhaustible supply of red clay at Austin, and Mr. Farmer claims the new company can make brick of a quality superior to the St. Louis brick. (The Saint Paul Daily Globe, Tuesday Morning, August 9, 1887, Volume IX, Number 221, Page 2)
Articles incorporating the Austin Pressed Brick company were filed in the office of the secretary of state yesterday. The capital is $100,000, divided into shares at $100 each. The incorporators are G. Schlenker, C. H. Davidson, H. R. Williams and R. E. Shepherd, of Austin; E. G. Perkins, of La Crosse, Wis., B. F. Farmer, of Spring Valley, and A. W. Zermant, of Clear Lake, Io. (The Saint Paul Daily Globe, Sunday Morning, August 14, 1887, Volume IX, Number 226, Page 2)
Destroy the Main Building of Aus-Brick Works – The Engine, Boiler and Big Mixer Destroyed – Loss About $25,000 With but $5,500 Insurance. Last evening, about half past five o’clock, Mr. Broughton, the superintendent of the Brick Works, left the premises to go home, and when he left, the works had been shut down and everything about the place was in order. He had but just reached his home and was unhitching his horse, when he heard the whistle that sounded the alarm. He at once went directly back to the works to find the main building all in flames, and past all hopes of extinguishment. It appears the watchman who was left in charge to see that everything was right had gone to another part of the grounds, near one of the kilns, and in a moment returned to find the oil house all in a blaze. He at once gave the alarm by blowing the big whistle, and calling for help, but the flames spread so rapidly in the oil, that the fire sprang up all along the immense structure, until the big main building was totally destroyed with all its contents. The firemen responded promptly, but could do but little good, for the works were out of reach of water, the nearest hydrant being at corner Water and Railway street, about 7 blocks away. The hose company strung hose and promptly did everything that could be done.
The kilns and brick sheds were not injured, the big kilns acting as a shield to keep the fire from spreading to other parts of the yard. This will be a great loss to Austin and her people, for it was one of our biggest industries and will throw many men out of employment, and stop the business until new machinery is obtained and a new building erected. The loss is great and the insurance entirely inadequate to have upon such a property. Hundreds of people flocked to the scene of the fire, which was grand in the extreme. The acres of fire illuminated the whole heavens, and the reflection upon the bright foliage upon the trees near the river, made a picture of beauty not soon to be forgotten. People residing on Lansing avenue, who had an excellent view of the fire across the river, say it was indeed a grand sight, and outshone all Fourth of July displays or pyrotechnics ever seen in this section. There were two engines, two boilers, two presses, one pulverizer, one mixer, one conveyor, one pug machine, sifters, belting, and tools of all kinds in the building. Of course, how much the heavier machinery is damaged, no one can as yet say. The Milwaukee company had cars standing on the sidetrack at the time of fire, but engines were sent in time to pull them out on to the main track, and they were saved. The total loss is probably between $20,000 and $25,000, with insurance of only $5,500 on building, machinery, boilers, engines and tools. This insurance is divided in three companies. (Unknown Austin Newspaper Article, 1887)
BRICK WORKS BURNED. Many Men Thrown Out of Employment at Austin. Special to the Globe. AUSTIN, Minn., Oct. 23. – The Austin pressed brick works, the only one of the kind in the Northwest, was totally destroyed by fire this evening. The fire originated in the oil room shortly after the works shut down. How it started is a mystery, as the superintendent says there was no waste on any kind allowed to accumulate there. The theory is that a tramp secured entrance in some manner and was smoking there. The building and machinery were valued at $25,000, and are an entire loss. The insurance is only $6,000. The plant was considered very valuable, and was doing a fine business. The quality of the brick was considered by experts equal to that of St. Louis. Many of the large buildings of the state recently constructed were built of this brick, which was also used in the construction of the government building at La Crosse. The plant was owned by a stock company organized in 1887 with a capital of $100,000. The bulk of the stock was owned by Austin parties, the remainder by St. Paul and La Crosse men. About fifty men were employed, who will now be thrown out of employment. It could not be learned to-night whether the company will rebuild this fall or not. (The Saint Paul Daily Globe, Saturday Morning, October 24, 1891, Volume XIII, Number 297, Page 1)
Brick Works to Be Rebuilt. Special to the Globe. AUSTIN, Minn., Nov. 14. – The works of the Austin Pressed Brick company, which were recently destroyed by fire, will be rebuilt at this place. Immediately after the fire St. Paul parties offered the company $20,000 if it would locate at the Minnesota transfer, and the directors of the company voted to accept the offer unless Austin did as well, but the business men of Austin, realizing the importance of a factory that employs 200 men, have raised the required amount, and operations will soon be commenced. (The Saint Paul Daily Globe, Sunday Morning, November 15, 1891, Volume XIII, Number 319, Page 5)
The Austin Pressed Brick Company was started in 1887, and for a time was very successful. The plant was burned and never rebuilt. (The History of Mower County, Minnesota, Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge, H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Company, Chicago, IL, 1911, Page 213)