The new court house at Anoka cost $20,000. The foundation walls are St. Paul blue lime-stone; the water table, window caps, cornice, chimney caps, &c., are Casota stone. The building is built of Anoka brick, trimmed with bands of Red Wing pressed brick. (The Saint Paul Daily Globe, Monday Morning, February 4, 1878, Volume I, Number 21, Page 1)
Two large brick machines were shipped yesterday to the Anoka Brick company. (The Saint Paul Daily Globe, Tuesday Morning, March 10, 1885, Volume VII, Number 69, Page 3)
On the west side of Round lake in Grow township, two miles northeast of Anoka, brick-making was begun by Kelsey Brothers in 1871. Their product in 1879 was 600,000, worth $6.75 per thousand at the kiln, or $8 loaded on the cars at Anoka. The clay is 10 to 14 feet thick, gray, partly weathered to yellowish, levelly stratified, and is underlain by bluish quicksand. Its top is 8 or 10 feet above the lake, or about 35 feet above Rum river. The bricks, as in Fridley, are cream-colored, and need no intermixture of sand. Curved bricks for well-curbing are also made by the Kelsey Brothers and are sold for $8 per thousand. Another yard is owned by - Nebulon. (A Report on the Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota, 1882-1885, The Geology of Minnesota, Volume II, N. H. Winchell and Warren Upham, Pioneer Press Company, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1888, Page 423)