Deer Creek Brick Company

The Fergus Falls Brick company has gone out of business, owing to an admixture of line (lime) in the clay here, and the machinery has been purchased by C. D. Baker of this city and A. D. Baker and Herbert Baker of Deer Creek, who will establish a brickyard in the vicinity of that village. (The Minneapolis Journal, Saturday Evening, May 19, 1906, Page 13)

Deer Creek, Minn. – A. D. Baker and others have purchased machinery and are about to establish a brick plant there. (Brick, Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, July 1906, Volume XXV, Number 1, Page 45)

The Deer Creek (Minn.) Brick Co. have installed a new brick making machine in their plant. (Clay Record, Clay Record Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, October 15, 1907, Volume XXXI, Number 7, Page 37)

Page 140. At Deer Creek, the Deer Creek Brick Company has opened a pit 4 miles northwest of town, in which are exposed 15 feet of yellow clay and 15 feet of blue-gray clay, all laminated in horizontal layers. It underlies from 3 to 6 feet of bowldery drift. Its working qualities appear to be excellent and it burns hard and buff-colored at cone 2,

Page 141. with a good range of vitrification. The company, which was organized about five years ago, has been producing brick at the rate of about 10,000 per day, working on half-day shifts. The plant is not now active on account of the difficulty of reaching a market from its rather inaccessible location. (Clays and Shales of Minnesota, Frank F. Grout and E. K. Soper, The University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1914)

Deer Creek Historical Museum, Deer Creek. Community Effort Award - Efforts to preserve the Deer Creek Fire Hall commenced in 1999 when the Minnesota Historical Society awarded a State Grants-in-Aid Award to the Deer Creek Fire Hall Preservation Committee. The tiny community of Deer Creek (pop. 328) was pivotal in making preservation a priority for this important community resource. Community members, Deer Creek School alumni, and area businesses provided funds to aid the work of two retired citizens and their wives who completed much of the work on the building. The brick used to construct the original firehouse in 1906 was made from the Deer Creek brick factory and North County Restoration of New York Mills, MN, assisted with the exterior brick repair by using brick from the former factory. Today, the firehouse tower features a bell, and the building is operating as the Deer Creek Historical Museum. Congratulations to the city of Deer Creek and to the work of James Truax and Frank Tranby in spearheading a great example of community effort. (Preservation Alliance of Minnesota, 2007 Minnesota Preservation Awards)