The Erskine Brick Company, Crookston, Minn., will hereafter be known as the Crookston Brick and Tile Company. The company has enlarged its plant and will handle draining tile, sewer pipe, etc. Sheldon W. Vance, proprietor and manager. (Municipal Engineering, Municipal Engineering Company, Indianapolis, May 1902, Volume XXII, Number 5, Page 339)
The Erskine Brick Co., Crookston, Minn., will hereafter be called the Crookston Brick & Tile Co. S. W. Vance is the owner. He will make some improvements. (Clay Record, Clay Record Publishing Company, Chicago, May 15, 1902, Volume XX, Number 9, Page 28)
S. W. Vance, of the Crookston Brick & Tile Co., of Crookston, Minn., has contracted for the delivery of 300,000 bricks for the building of a new saw mill at Rainy River, Ont. The first shipments on this have been made. (Brick and Clay Record, Windsor & Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, November 1903, Volume XIX, Number 5, Page 180)
Page 338. Crookston. Brick and Tile – 1903. Crookston Brick & Tile Co. Total Number Wage Earners - 40. Adult Males - 39. Males Under 16 Years (Employed during vacation only) – 1. Number of Hours Each Day - 10. Number of Hours Each Week - 60. Average Number Weeks Operated During 1902 - 28. Number Employed between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. – Not Listed. Number Persons Regularly Employed Sunday – Not Listed. Established in Year – Illegible.
Page 339. 1904. Total Number Wage Earners - 30. Adult Males (Office Force) – 2. Adult Females (Office Force) – 1. Adult Males (Excluding Office Force) - 27. Number of Hours Each Day - 10. Number of Hours Each Week - 60. Average Number Weeks Operated Last Year - 52. Number Employed between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. - Not Listed. Number Persons Regularly Employed on Sunday - Not Listed. Changes in Name of Firm or New Inspections – None. (Ninth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor of the State of Minnesota, 1903-1904, Volume 2, Great Western Printing Company, 1904)
The Crookston Brick and Tile Company has a contract to furnish 600,000 brick for the construction of the big new saw mill at Baudette. That’s quite a few brick. (Warren Sheaf, Thursday, March 8, 1906, Volume 26, Number 13, Page 3)
The Crookston Brick & Tile Co., of Crookston, Minn., has just finished burning its second kiln. The plant has an annual output of 5,000,000 brick, which are shipped to all parts of the northwestern country. Both soft-mud and stiff-mud brick are made. (Brick, Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, August 1906, Volume XXV, Number 2, Page 71)
Prosperity is the portion of the clayworking industries of Crookston, Minn. The Crookston Brick & Tile Co. is owned by S. W. Vance and he can point with pride to the success of the enterprise since its inception. During the last few years the capacity of the yards has been doubled and many improvements have been made. Here is shown also another case of the successful coupling of the clay industry with the cement business. One department of the plant is devoted to the manufacture of cement brick and ornamental stone. The cement product is a trifle higher in cost than the clay brick and both are sold without the slightest difficulty. Nothing like giving the public what it wants and also having the facilities for educating it to wanting what is best for it. (Brick and Clay Record, Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, September 1906, Volume XXV, Number 3, Page 138)
Crookston, Minn. – O. K. Berget has become manager for the Crookston Brick & Tile Co. (Brick and Clay Record, Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, January 1907, Volume XXVI, Number 1, Page 17)
H. R. Robertson, on March 1, assumed the management of the Crookston (Minn.) Brick & Tile Co., vice O. K. Berget, resigned. S. W. Vance, the owner of the company, has decided to retire from active business life. (Clay Record, Clay Record Publishing Company, Chicago, March 15, 1907, Volume XXX, Number 5, Page 41)
Rudolph Carlson of Crookston was in the city the first of the week on his way to Rosby, to look up a tract of wood land for the Crookston Brick company, of which concern he has been foreman for many years. (The Bemidji Daily Pioneer, Tuesday Evening, March 26, 1907, Volume 4, Number 284, Page 3)
The Crookston Brick & Tile Co., Crookston, Minn., manufactures brick and handles building material such as lime, cement, sand and gravel. The plant manufactures a high grade of brick. (Brick and Clay Record, Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, May 1907, Volume XXVI, Number 5, Page 66)
S. W. Vance, president of the Crookston (Minn.) Brick & Tile Co., states that the demand is far ahead of the supply of brick and that 1,000,000 have been sold for future delivery. They contemplate several improvements which will facilitate the manufacture and enlarge the capacity. (Clay Record, Clay Record Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, October 30, 1907, Volume XXXI, Number 8, Page 36)
The Crookston Brick & Tile Co. has secured the contract for 800,000 brick for the new federal building at Devils Lake., N. D., and also a contract for 500,000 brick for the new Franklin school. The present season will be the best in its history. (Brick and Clay Record, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, IL, August 1908, Volume XXIX, Number 2, Page 374)
Crookston, Minn.: Crookston Brick & Tile Co.- "Business for 1909 excellent. No trouble in placing entire output of over 4,000,000 sand mold brick. Conditions good and will increase output to 5,000,000 in 1910." (Brick and Clay Record, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, January 1910, Volume XXXII, Number 1, Page 76)
The Crookston (Minn.) Brick & Tile Co. plant is being started up with Fred Hales, a brickmaker of 30 years experience, in charge. Erskine W. Vance is the general manager. (Clay Record, Clay Record Publishing Company, Chicago, April 30, 1910, Volume XXXVI, Number 8, Page 34)
A green sand-mould brick made by the Crookston Brick & Tile Co., of Crookston, Minn., was attracting a good deal of attention (at the Clay Products Show at the Coliseum in Chicago March 7 to 12). Mr. S. W. Vance, who represents that company, was in attendance at the Show. (Brick and Clay Record, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, March 15, 1912, Volume XL, Number 6, Page 256)
Several improvements have been made to the Crookston (Minn.) Brick and Tile Co.’s plant and it is now turning out approximately 40,000 brick a day. The first kilns of this season’s run will open in a few days, the season having been shortened by the lateness of the frosts. (Brick and Clay Record, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, July 1, 1913, Volume XLIII, Number 1, Page 59)
The Crookston Brick & Tile Co., at Crookston, Minn., and only a few miles to the north of you, used to burn with wood and coal. This concern uses now about 30 gallons of crude oil against a cord of wood per thousand brick. The wood cost $4.00 which did not include cost of firing and other expense not needed in oil burning. (Brick and Clay Record, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, April 7, 1914, Volume XLIV, Number 7, Page 817)
S. W. Vance, proprietor of the Crookston Brick and Tile Company, of Crookston, Minn., spent a few weeks in Chicago during April. He was looking up new improvements for his yard. (Brick and Clay Record, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, May 5, 1914, Volume XLIV, Number 9, Page 1069)
Wanted – Wood haulers. Give us best price per cord for hauling and loading 300 cords from SW ¼, 25-147-34; four miles to Wilton. The Crookston Brick & Tile Co., Crookston, Minn. (The Bemidji Daily Pioneer, Thursday Evening, September 30, 1915, Volume 13, Number 235, Page 11)
Two companies are operating on laminated clays at Crookston. The Crookston Brick & Tile Co. exploits the same deposit close to the sawmill. The clay here, as exposed in the pit, is a little more sandy but otherwise is of the same character as that just described. The capacity of the plant is about the same. The city building inspector of Minneapolis, in testing a set of six brick from this deposit at Crookston, found a range from 1,950 to 3,350 pounds to the square inch, with an average of 2,500 pounds. The blue clay of the lower levels shows the usual checks in drying and is so full of organic matter that it is very difficult to prevent black cores. (Clays and Shales of Minnesota, Frank F. Grout with contributions by E. K. Soper, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1919, Page 212)