Corvallis Brick & Tile Company

 

What was this object used for?  Hint:  it is related to the subject of the last post.

Made by the Fuller Manufacturing Company of Iowa beginning in 1920, this object is a brick carrier, also known as brick tongs.  With it, a user could carry 6 to 10 bricks at one time.  The user adjusted the metal frame for the number and size of bricks and then lifted the handle to clamp everything in place. This one was found on the site of the Corvallis Brick and Tile Company on Crystal Lake Drive in Corvallis, Oregon.

Louis Wilson and W. C. Corbett founded the Corvallis Brick and Tile Company in 1896.  The company operated under this name until it shut down in 1981.

Periodic flooding of the Willamette River long ago created extensive deposits of high quality clay on the 6 acres of land along Crystal Lake Drive owned by the company. In 1931, these deposits were reportedly sufficient for fifty additional years of brick production.

After topsoil was removed, the clay was dug up-- by hand in the early years and later by mechanical plows and scrapers.  By wheelbarrow or dump truck, it was taken to processing.

Dump truck at Corvallis Brick and Tile, 1921

Any rocks were removed and the clay ground to a fine powder which was then mixed with water.

The mix was forced through a shaping collar or die.  A conveyor belt carried the shaped clay to machines which cut separate bricks.  The bricks were then placed in a three-story drying shed where they remained for 1 to 2 weeks, depending on the product. 

After the bricks had dried, they were fired in one of the company's two kilns.  Using over a cord of wood per hour, the kilns were heated to 2000 degrees.  After about 48 hours at this temperature, the bricks  were allowed to cool before being stacked in the yard for sale or delivery.  In 1967, the company switched to using natural gas to heat the kilns.

The company operated on a seasonal basis.  In the 1920s, the company employed about 24 men from spring until October.  By 1949, with mechanization only 8 were needed. In the 1930s, these employees could produce 15,000 bricks  or 20 tons of of drain tile per day.  The company was managed by Phil Corbett (W. C.'s son) for many years until it was sold in 1936 to John Ash (who also owned the Builders Supply Company). It was sold again in 1946 to A. W. Woodcock and E. Winegar and then to Mr. and Mrs. H. W. Albright in 1949. The company stopped making ordinary brick in 1952 but continued making drainage tile and other products until 1981.

Bricks from the Corvallis Brick and Tile Company were used in many OSU buildings as well as many of Corvallis's commercial buildings.

By Martha Fraundorf, Volunteer for Benton County Historical Society, Philomath, Oregon