William Hartung in 1878 made red bricks for building his house, in the N. W. 1/4 of section 9, Birch Dale. A kiln of dark red bricks was made about eight years ago on land of L. S. Bishop in the S. E. 1/4 of the N. E. 1/4 of section 23, Birch Dale, close north of the Middle Birch Bark lake. (A Report on the Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota, 1882-1885, Volume II, N. H. Winchell and Warren Upham, Pioneer Press Company, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1888, Page 578)
At Birch Lake, in this county (Todd), the railroad passes the north shore of the lake about a mile east of town, and many years ago a brick plant made use of some laminated clay found along the shore. The character of the clay is very similar to that at Sauk Lake, just described, but its extent is not well known. (Clays and Shales of Minnesota, Frank F. Grout and E. K. Soper, The University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1914, Page 162)