Brick-Making Was a Major Industry In County: Poston Brick Company considered One of the Largest in the World.

Cline, Pat. Brick-Making Was a Major Industry In County: Poston Brick Company considered One of the Largest in the World. Montgomery County Magazine February 1981, p 3.

Brick making was one of the leading industries in Montgomery County dating back to 1880. The firm of Bond & McCleur was organized at Crawfordsville in 1880 on three acres of leased land south of the junction. Their first year of operation they turned out 600,000 brick. The third year, the company bought nine acres which made them the largest brickyard in the county.

Early brick making required the use of old sycamore gum with rudely constructed wooden "crab" to prepare the mud for brick. In November 1887, marked improvements were made in the method of brick making. The work now was done entirely by machinery and was much superior to the old way. Bond & McCleur started using the "pallet and rack" system under shelter rather than leaving the brick in the yards to dry in the sun.

The first 7 years the company had been in business, it had manufactured and sold 7 million bricks, an average of one million a year. The machinery was run by steam with a capacity of 20,000 bricks a day. Brick was shipped to Ohio and Illinois. There were 20 men employed by Bond & McCleur in 1887 plus numerous teams of horses. The average pay was $1.50 a week. In the late 1890's Irwin G. POSTON became interested in opening a brick making plant in Crawfordsville.

Fred Hoffman, who was financially interested in the proposed Poston Brick Factory told a little inside history of the enterprise, it was reported in the Crawfordsville Journal Jan 4, 1901.

About 3 years earlier Hoffman became acquainted with Irwin G. Poston by being the architect of his handsome residence on East Wabash Avenue. He suggested to him that Crawfordsville would be a fine place to manufacture vitrified brick, on account of the excellent quality of shale here.

Mr. Poston consented to make tests of the shale and Mr. Hoffman sent a few sacks of it to Veedersburg. The test was only partially successful because the shale had been ground too fine.

But Mr. Poston was so interested that he asked for a carload of the shale. The second test was a complete success and about 800 of the very finest bricks resulted. These were sold to the city of Crawfordsville and may now be seen in two of the crossings at the Methodist Church corner and in the gutter in front of Dr. Keegan's office. They have stood the wear of nearly 3 years without losing a bit of their surface and are considered really superior to those made of the Veedersburg shale.

Mr. Poston was ready to start the strength of these tests, but business complications delayed in until 1900 when he was again urged to locate here by Mr. Hoffman.

The shale here, says Mr. Hoffman, is proven to be superior to any in either Indiana or Illinois, and equal to the famous Canton, Ohio product. It lies along Sugar Creek in inexhaustible quantities. For miles and down the stream wherever bluffs are found the shale will be found. It is a natural resource which is likely to prove of wonderful value to Crawfordsville in the future.

The Poston Paving Brick Company was established in Jan 1901 with a capital of 50,000 dollars. First officers were IC Elton, president: RH Ristine, VP and IG Poston, treasurer and general manager.

It was reported on Feb 22, 1901 that the Poston Brick Co. had purchased the SW corner of the Old Buck Farm just opposite the Junction House. This corner belonged to George R. Brown and comprises about 7 acres.

The company has also purchased 19 acres of the Jere Townsley farm on Walnut Fork this being one of the finest shale deposits in the country. The supply of shale used in the factory will be secured here and hauled on the Vandalia cars to the junction.

CC Stoll, of the American Clay Working Machine Company of Bucyrus, Ohio who is here to sell the machinery for the plant, is astonished at the wonderful shale deposits here. He states that they are not only inexhaustible but are of the very finest quality.

Said he, "This factory that is to be built here at once is only a beginner. As soon as it becomes known what is here other factories will rush in. At Des Moines, Iowa where the shale is not so good, there are half a dozen big factories; all of them doing well."

In March, Poston Brick announced it planned to start construction of its plant here just as soon as the ground thawed out. The work will be rushed, it said. The machinery will all be here in April and it is now thought that the factory will be in operation by early May. The process of converting clay into Poston paving brick is one in which Mr. Poston obtained letters patent several years ago. At first about 50 men will be employed but if the factory shows up to the tests and the sanguine expectations of its owners, the number of employees will be doubled in a short time.

Fred Hoffman reported in June that 3 kilns of brick were cooling off at Poston Brick Plant and there will be about 65,000 brick in the kilns fit for paving. "We will soon have some more kilns completed, making 7 in all. We can furnish brick for the street paving just as fast as the contractor can use them. We had about 60 men working last week and as the kilns are completed we will perhaps use a larger number."

CM Kirkpatrick of Greenfield was in Crawfordsville in late June filing his bond for his paving contract here. In speaking of the work, he said, "I will use Poston block brick and hope to have some laid in about a week or 10 days. The company is now firing two kilns for me and I will use over a million bricks in completing my contract.

The time it will take to complete the work depends altogether on how fast I can get the material. I will hire every man that I can get if the material comes fast enough, and will hustle the work through in a hurry. I will hire all my teams and men from this city except 2 or 3 teams I will bring with me to use in excavating and several expert brick layers.

Brick paving is going to be the paving of the future and is the easiest paving laid to keep clean and free from dust and dirt. I laid my first brick contract 8 years ago in Noblesville and it is now as good as new. It will wear forever nearly."

The newspaper reported in June that Doyel & Galey with a force of men, were erecting a new brick factory for Fegueson & Everson, north of the city which will be running soon.

Although there was no mention in the newspaper about a problem at Poston Brick Plant, it was reported in July 1901 that "brick making had resumed at the Poston Brick Plant. With the exception of one kiln the first lot of brick was superb, much superior in quality to those made at Veedersburg. The kiln that was damaged has been repaired and excellent brick will hereafter be made in it. When the contractor is ready to begin paving here there will be an abundance of brick on hand."

In August 1901, the newspaper reported Poston Brick Co. plans to build a couple more kilns. There are 9 now in operation and with each burning a better quality of brick is being produced. The percent of 1st class brick turned out is now approaching the expectations of the management and when the factory is in perfect running order the product will be remarkably clear.

According to Bowen History of Montgomery County (1913), Poston Brick Co. had become one of, if not the largest, of the plants producing paving brick in the entire world. The kilns have a burning capacity of 600,000 per month of these "extra good paving brick." The annual output is about 7 million. These brick have paved the streets of many US cities.

The Standard Brick Company, makers of a superior grade of beds was incorporated in August 1901. The works was situated a mile to the north of the city on the tracks of the Monon railroad. Standard had 10 acres of shale ground and the material was about 100 feet deep affording enough to last 100 years. Standard produced about 6 million brick a year in 1903 which were marketed in all the leading central West Cities, including Chicago and Indianapolis.

In 1929, the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce published a directory, "Crawfordsville, Athens of Indiana. It mentions the Crawfordsville Shale Brick Company which was noted for a superior quality face brick. Most of its products were shipped to markets in Chicago and Detroit although sales were made through the entire northern states. 50 men were employed in the plant. 11 kilns were operated with a capacity production of a million brick per month.

Brick produced by Crawfordsville Shale Co were in varying shades of red and were practically impervious to water. They were in special demand for decorative work in building fronts where color schemes were to be developed. The shale used in the manufacture of these brick was of unusually high quality and the finished product was in constant demand.

The Chamber book noted that Poston Paving Brick Co. originated in 1901 for the manufacture of paving brick but changed its production to include face brick in 1904. For a number of years face brick of a high quality from the famous Crawfordsville Shale had been its exclusive product. More than 50 tones and gradations of rich natural colors could be obtained with the Poston Arcadian and Oriental Brick and with their use it was impossible to simulate the appearance of practically every permanent building material, at the same time retaining the tapestry like color peculiar to these face brick.

In 1929, the company employed 60 men, and about ¼ of its production was shipped to the Chicago market, the balance being distributed over the entire country. The Oriental manufactured by Poston was the first textured face brick ever made in the U.S.

The Poston Family

Irvin G. POSTON was born in Nelsonville, Ohio Sept 3, 1854 a son of Lorenzo Dow Poston. He was reared in Nelsonville and in Duff's Commercial College at Pittsburg, Pa. He was married May 15, 1878, to Josephine Musser, daughter of Joseph Musser. They had two children, Edwin and Blanche.

Poston was engaged in dealing in thoroughbred draft and trotting horses and was said to have a number of very fine horses of the Clydesdale and Sparten stock. He owned 300 acres of land. In 1894, Irvin and his family moved to Crawfordsville where he went into the brick manufacturing business. He built brick plants at Crawfordsville (Poston Paving Brick Co) and later Veedersburg. They moved to Martinsville, Indiana in 1907, and another brick plant was built along with one at Springfield, Illinois.

Irvin's youngest brother, Clarence moved to Crawfordsville 1903. Here he built a fine home and retired from active business because of poor health. Clarence was a lover of music and had attended Cincinnati (Ohio) Conservatory of Music. After a successful career as a druggist and banker in Nelsonville, he moved his family to Logan, Ohio 1896, later deciding to move on west to Crawfordsville.

After four years of retirement, Clarence gained back his health and became interested in the excellent shale deposit at Attica, Indiana located 25 miles NW of Crawfordsville. In 1907 he built a modern brick manufacturing plant at Attica as he wanted to produce a brick different from the ordinary line being offered. He became the originator of texture and color as applied to face brick.

Clarence was born Oct 25, 1856. He married Ella DILL Oct 22, 1878. They had five children: Frieda, who died in 1949; Ludwig who died 1887 in infancy; Florence Scott Poston; Floyd Emerson Post (died 1980) and William Irvin (died 1971). Clarence died March 27, 1926 at his Crawfordsville home. Although his brick plant was in Attica, he never established residence there. After his death, Mrs. Poston moved to Attica to be near her three surviving children who were operating the business. She died 1936.

W. Irvin Poston continued as an active partner and sales manager of the Poston-Herron Brick Co., Attica until the plant sold in the late 1960s. He moved to Crawfordsville with his family in 1903 and graduated CHS 1916. He graduated from the University of Illinois, majoring in business in 1920. He was married to Martha Barnhill June 8, 1921. She died in 1971. Two of their children still survive - Margaret Ann "Peggy" Poston, Attica and Irvin Emerson Poston, Birmingham, Michigan.

Before his death W. Irvin Poston talked about the saga of his family's brick business. His passing marked the final chapter in the Poston family's long history in making brick. It saddened him to see the operation fold 3 years after it was sold.

But every time you enter the Purdue Hall of Music, you pay homage to Poston Brick. The same for the Purdue Administration Building, Stewart Center and another dozen Purdue buildings. You may well worship in a church constructed of Poston-Herron brick.

> From the time their forebears hit the shores of America in 1703, the Postons

made brick. They made it in England before coming to America. At one time, Postons had brick factories all through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

In a side bar, also by Pat Cline on the LaFoe family "Brick-making was a Family Affair", it states that there are several local houses constructed of Poston paving brick, 40-1 E. Wabash (former residence of J. Waugh, president of Poston in 1919; Irvin Poston had lived there earlier."

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