Olmsted County. Brick are made at many places in the county. …and Byron furnish brick. (The Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota, The Fourth Annual Report, For The Year 1875, N. H. Winchell & M. W. Harrington, The Pioneer-Press Company, St. Paul, 1876, Page 95)
Brick are made at many places in the county (Olmsted). …Byron furnish brick. Although the material is sandy, more sand is usually put in in making the brick, which are consequently tender and of poor quality. The brick vitrify but little when burned. (History of Winona, Olmsted, and Dodge Counties Together with Biographical Matter, Statistics, Etc., H. H. Hill and Company, Chicago, IL, 1884, Page 756)
...Kendall’s Brick Works, Byron, Minn… (The Brickmaker, Charles T. Davis, Chicago, September 15, 1893, Volume XVII, Number 1, Page 27)
Byron, Minn. – J. B. Kendall is preparing to resume operations at his brick yard in this city. (Brick, Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, June 1906, Volume XXIV, Number 6, Page 312)
The brick plant of J. B. Kendall, at Byron, Minn., was visited by a $7,500 fire which started in the engine room and destroyed the complete plant. Unfortunately there was no insurance, so the loss to him is total. (Clay Record, Clay Record Publishing Company, Chicago, September 30, 1909, Volume XXXV, Number 6, Page 34)
The brick plant of J. B. Kendall at Byron, Minn., was destroyed by fire September 18th with a loss of $8,000. It is possible that Mr. Kendall may rebuild at Rochester, Minn. (Brick and Clay Record, Volume XXXI, Number 5, November 1909, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, IL, Page 208)
Winona. – A verdict of $8,436.91 against the Northwestern Railway Company was found in the United States court here. Kendall’s brick yard at Byron was destroyed by fire and he brought suit for $10,000, alleging that a spark from a passing engine on the defendant’s road kindled the fire. The jury was out four hours. (Warren Sheaf, Thursday, May 26, 1910, Volume 30, Number 23, Page 6)
Plaintiff (defendant in error) was the owner of a brickmaking plant at Byron, Minn., located adjacent to defendant’s right of way; said brick plant consisting of buildings, drying sheds, coal and engine house, etc. On the night of September 18, 1909, the same were destroyed by fire claimed to have been communicated by sparks from an engine operated by defendant (a corporation and plaintiff in error) over its line of railroad, and plaintiff brought this action against the defendant to recover his damages caused by such fire. (United States Circuit Courts of Appeals Reports, Volume 108, West Publishing Co., St. Paul, 1911, Page 252)
For 25 years a plant has been at work near the station of Byron on an extensive deposit of sandy yellow loess, 4 feet thick. Over a million bricks per year were produced, but the plant was burned in 1910, and has apparently been abandoned. (Clays and Shales of Minnesota, Frank F. Grout and E. K. Soper, The University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1914, Page 140)