Work in the Brickyards

Work in the Brickyards. . , PICTURED: William Lisky and Marion Shrade in front and Herman Riebe and Adolph Minks above on the brick pile. Minks later said 1910 was a "good, hot dry summer – good for brickmaking"., This 1910 photo shows four men stacking bricks just taken out of the kiln into an enormous pile. When an order was received, 20,000 of these Brickton bricks were loaded in each boxcar on a nearby rail siding., The work was heavy, dusty and seasonal. Brickmaking stopped when the weather was freezing., Most of the brickyard workers slept in barracks on the property where they worked., At Brickton's peak, about 50 men worked in each of the five brickyards. They earned $.95 to $1.15 per day, working 10 hour days. The summer brickyard payrolls had a large economic impact on nearby Princeton., The brickyards declined quickly in the 1920s due to several factors, including competition from new brickyards closer to the Twin Cities, and the arrival of concrete and concrete blocks as building materials., R.P. Morton Brickyard – c. 1923-24. PICTURED: Anas Morton (brother of R.P. Morton), Bob Applegate, John Kuhn, Charlie Walker, Howard Redmond., The very high quality clay near here was quickly recognized by European settlers, some of whom had brickmaking skills. Firewood used as fuel in the massive football-field-long brick kilns was easy to purchase from local farmers, who were clearing their wooded land for row crops., In 1886, the arrival of the Great Northern Railway provided economical transportation of up to 20 million Brickton bricks made each summer to their buyers in Minnesota and beyond., The location of four of the new water-filled clay pits is shown on this map., Where Were the Brickyards?, For more information about Brickton, please contact the Mille Lacs County Hostorical [sic] Society., 1978 Project Leaders , Walter Kuhn, William (Stillman) Oakes, Willis (Tud) Young , 2019 Project Leaders , Greg Anderson, Dan Howard, Justin Johnson, Jeanette Oakes, Barry Schreiber, Mike Trunk