Austin Brick & Tile Works

A brick and tile plant will be erected at Austin, Minn., by E. Barr, of Mason City. (Paving and Municipal Engineering, Volume VIII, Municipal Engineering Company, Indianapolis, January to July 1895, Page 159)

Austin Brick and Tile Works. Mr. Edward Barr, the proprietor of the Austin Brick and Tile Works, came to Austin in February of 1895 from Mason City, Iowa, where he had had six years experience in the plant at that place, previous to coming here to locate. Mr. Barr took a carload of Austin clay to Mason City, made it up into brick and tile, and found it to be of excellent quality. He then bought 20 acres of land in the Northeast portion of the city, at the intersection of the Great Western and the C. M. & St. P. R’y tracks. Mr. Barr then invested at the time $7,000; $2,000 in land and $5,000 in machinery, putting in an 80 h.p. engine and other machinery with a capacity of 25,000 brick per day or about 10,000 tile. Since putting in the original plant the kilns and drying facilities have been increased from time to time; two permanent kilns with a capacity of 50,000 brick each or an average of about 300,000 brick are burned at a time. The writer saw seven men at work taking brick from the drying grounds and placing them in the kiln, and it was stated that about 25,000 could be put up per day.

This season an average of 15 men have been employed, but were it not for the scarcity of men who are willing to work, a larger number would have been put on during the last month or so, as the demand has been larger than the number of brick and tile turned out. Besides brick and tile, Mr. Barr also manufactures the hollow blocks, or fire-proofing, and so far this season equivalent to about 700,000 brick have been turned out, and it is expected that 1,000,000 more will be gotten out during the remainder of the season. Next year more kilns and more drying facilities will be added. The material in the clay here makes a mineral brick which is above the average in quality, for this section of the country, but instead of running in veins there are different varieties of material found in pockets, requiring skill and care in handling and working it. On account of the large plants at Mason City and Albert Lea not a great deal is shipped south and west, but the country for some distance north and east is supplied from this plant, and as the farmers come to know the great benefit to be derived from draining portions of their land, an almost unlimited amount of tile will be in demand in this section of the country. Mr. Barr is supplying Geo. A. Hormel & Co. with brick for the large buildings being erected at their packing plant. The Austin Brick and Tile works are a permanent and lasting benefit to this city and vicinity. (The Transcript, August 30, 1899)

Austin Brick and Tile Works. The above concern was established in Austin by Ed. Barr in 1895. Free water for fire protection and use at the plant was granted by the city for a period of ten years, in order to secure its location here. The works are located near the junction of the Milwaukee and Great Western railroads, which furnish ample shipping facilities. The manufacture consists of paving and common brick and drain tile. A machine is used in making brick which turns out 25,000 daily, the capacity of the tile machine being 5,000 to 15,000 per day, according to size of pipe. A season’s output of tile averages about 35,000, and of brick about 1,000,000. Thirty men are required to operate the plant at full capacity, and steady employment is furnished to about (unknown number). Mr. Barr is a native of Wisconsin, generous and public spirited. (Saturday Shopper, 1900)

For Sale: The machinery of the Austin Brick & Tile Works, consisting of an 80 horse power boiler and engine, heater, pump and Auger, brick and oil machine, Pug mill, granulator, winding drum, cable, dump car and track, shafting, pulleys and belting, automatic brick and tile cutting tables, tracks, barrows, grates, kiln doors and bands. One Penfiled elevator. Ed. Barr, Austin, Minn. (Brick, Windsor & Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, December 1, 1902, Volume XVII, Number 6, Page 50)

Page 138. Austin. Brick and Tile – 1903. Austin Brick & Tile Works. Total Number Wage Earners - 20. Adult Males - 20. Number of Hours Each Day - 10. Number of Hours Each Week - 60. Average Number Weeks Operated During 1902 - Not Listed. Number Employed between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. – Not Listed. Number Persons Regularly Employed Sunday – Not Listed. Established in Year – 1895.

Page 139. 1904. Total Number Wage Earners - 22. Adult Males (Office Force) – 1. Adult Males (Excluding Office Force) - 20. Males Under 16 Years – 1. Number of Hours Each Day - 10. Number of Hours Each Week - 60. Average Number Weeks Operated Last Year - 37. 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)

An Opportunity. Rich Clay Deposits. Hundreds of acres - four kinds of clay - Fire Brick - Building and Paving Brick and pottery Clay - Excellent railroad facilities. Unlimited Market. Wanted parties with capital and experience to develop - Liberal inducements. City will use half million pavers and $40,000 Opera House will be built, next year. Large demand for building brick and tile, and at least ten or twelve cities nearby will pave next year. There is a splendid investment here for someone. Correspondence solicited. T. H. Pridham, Austin, Minnesota. Brick and Clay Record, Windsor & Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, December 1904, Volume XXI, Number 6, Page 62)