Detroit, Minn. – The Detroit Brick & Tile Mfg. Co. has been incorporated with a capital stock of $50,000, by W. A. Norcross and others. (Brick and Clay Record, Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, March 1907, Volume XXVI, Number 3, Page 179)
Geo. D. Hamilton is associated with W. A. Norcross in putting in a new brickyard in Detroit, Minn., in proper condition for the manufacture of brick. It is the intention of the proprietors of this enterprise to install up-to-date machinery of sufficient capacity to supply all local and outside demands. (Brick and Clay Record, Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, July 1907, Volume XXVII, Number 1, Page 40)
New Machinery For Brick Yard. Organization Effected and Capacity of Plant Will be Greatly Increased. The Detroit Brick & Tile Mfg. Co. is the now fully organized and as soon as the necessary machinery can be installed, and the improvements now under way are completed the yard will have a daily capacity of 40,000 brick per day. Last Tuesday the interest of Benj. Castberg was purchased under the option which was taken some time ago by Geo. D. Hamilton, who together with Hubbard A. Hamilton was elected to the board of directors. The present officers of the company are W. A. Norcross, president; Geo. D. Hamilton, secretary; and Hubbard A. Hamilton, treasurer. The second horse-power brick machine is being installed, and material is now being gotten out for twenty additional drying sheds which will give the plant a daily capacity of 20,000 brick. A Martin brick machine and ten thousand drying pallets have been bought, also a compound clay crusher and disintegrator, and it is hoped an engine can be installed within the next thirty days which will permit of their operation in ample time to turn out a million brick before cold weather sets in. The clay has been tested out and it has been pronounced by experienced brick makers to be of exceptionally good quality for the manufacture of both brick and tile, and it is the intention of the company to make drainage tile and hollow brick next season. With the steadily increasing cost of lumber, and the fact that good drainage is just beginning to receive the attention of progressive farmers in this section, there is need here of this plant, and there is now a demand for all of the material it can turn out. Additional workmen are being added as they are needed, and next month a crew of twenty-five or thirty will be at work. (The Detroit Record, Friday, July 12, 1907, Volume 37, Number 46, Page 1)
The new machinery for the Detroit (Minn.) Brick & Tile Co., has been installed and a spur track laid to the Soo Ry. and the Northern Pacific Ry. The capacity of the plant is 40,000 brick daily. (Clay Record, Clay Record Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, May 30, 1908, Volume XXXII, Number 10, Page 33)
I (Otto Pommer, of Quebec, Canada) met the lime trouble at a plant at Detroit, Minn., where the lime pebbles were in the worst form. The plant was making soft mud brick and used field kilns. When starting at this plant I installed one crusher with smooth rollers, crushing the pebbles just to a minimum size. I also increased the temperature of the burning and got excellent results, the lime troubles having disappeared. The photos show two brick at the left in which the lime pebbles had not been removed, and before the rollers were installed and the burning temperature raised; the two brick at the right are the product obtained after the installation of these improvements. (Brick and Clay Record, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, October 7, 1913, Volume XLIII, Number 7, Page 692)