Continental Clay Brick Works

Continental Clay Brick Works. West Virginia 9. , Local lawyer and newspaper editor, F. Vernon [unreadable], established the Continental Clay ?Brick works on a portion of his family farm in [unreadable]. Ten beehive kilns were initially constructed to fire the bricks after they were molded. Brick production using the beehive kilns was considerably slow, requiring more than two weeks and yielding some [unreadable] to 70,000 bricks a day, using a work force of 100 men. This traditional method was used until 1957, when coal fueling of the kilns was replaced by more efficiently controlled natural gas, essentially doubling the plant's production., In 1967, the tunnel kiln method of drying was introduced at the plant. This method followed a continuous production line approach, in which bricks loaded onto cars were moved through a tunnel that [unreadable] for preheating, firing, and cooling, essentially rendering [unreadable] method of production obsolete. Some of the kilns at this brick works, however, continued to be used for drying sand., Today, this facility is the only operational brick plant in West Virginia, with a market area extending to Washington D.C., New York, and southwestern Pennsylvania. Brick from the Continental Clay Brick Works has been used in such public buildings as the U.S. Post Office, the Department of Justice, the National Archives, and the Pentagon., The Continental Clay Brick Works property, which also includes a large industrial building, office/house, and small gate house, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, representing a significant industry in Berkeley County, as well as a method of brick production widely used throughout the 19th century.