Claybank Brick Plant

History

• 1886 - Discovery: Thomas McWilliams, a homesteader from the Moose Jaw Creek area, was the first to recognize the economic potential of the clay found in hills of this area. He discovered the coal one day in 1886 while out looking for lost cattle and picking Saskatoon berries. Thomas travelled to Moose Jaw to the land titles office to lay claim to the clay-rick land. He later moved his family to the new homestead. Near the same time, he sought permission from the federal government to mine the refractory clay on his land.  This is the first official record of the Claybank clay deposits. Over the next, almost twenty years, Thomas minded and sold clay to the Wellington White brick plant in Moose Jaw.
• 1904 - Partnership: In 1904, Thomas entered into a  formal partnership with the Moose Jaw Fire Brick and Pottery Company.  As a result, the company acquired Mr. McWilliam's original homestead plus other nearby clay deposits. Despite the investment and exceptional quality of the clay, a lack of infrastructure and the distance to consumer markets, made the endeavour unprofitable as Moose Jaw was over 50 km away and the clay had to be hauled by horse and wagon. That, however, was about to change.
• 1910 - Development: In 1910, the Canadian Northern Railway came to the area and overnight, the problem of lack of access to markets was resolved. A spur line from the main rail line at Claybank was constructed and plans were immediately made to build a new coal-fired brick plant. In 1912, the Moose Jaw Fire Brick and Pottery Company bought out Tom McWilliams' remaining shares and transformed itself into Saskatchewan Clay Products. The new plant, begun in 1912, was completed in 1914 however, because of the economic difficulties related to World War I, it was forced to cease operations until 1916.
• 1916 - Re-organization: The Dominion Fire Brick and Clay Products Ltd. was the result of a company re-organization in 1916. The plant was immediately pressed back into service. The newly re-branded and re-energized company expanded its product line to include face brick and specialized fire brick. These new innovate products helped the company survive the immediate post-war years as the expansion of railways and industrialization following the war, meant high demand for the company’s products. The development of the specialized product line also helped the company survive the Great Depression, to such an extent that by 1938 the Claybank brick plant was the busiest in the province. During World War II demand for the company’s specialized refractory bricks, used in Corvette warships, ensured its prosperity, while face brick production also continued. In post-war years the Claybank brick plant continued to prosper and by 1950 it was the largest clay plant in Saskatchewan. 1954 - Foreign Control:  In 1954 the plant was bought by the Alberta-based, Redcliffe Pressed Brick, who renamed the company, Dominion Fire Brick and Clay Products. The following year, controlling interest in the plant was transferred to A.P. Green Fire Brick Company of Mexico, Missouri. The company, one of North America's leading producers of refractory products, modernized the plant's operations, including converting six of the ten coal-fired kilns to natural gas. Despite these improvements the plant began experiencing financial difficulties in the mid-1950s as a result of the decline in the demand for locomotive brick as railways converted to diesel locomotives. In the 1960s, the company also discontinued production of its famous face brick. While the conversion of the kilns to natural gas offered several advantages, it had proved devastating to the demand for Claybank face brick as the coal fired kilns had given the brick its colour - colour that was lost with natural gas. In 1962 A.P. Green gained complete control of the Claybank brick plant but the company continued to operate under the name Dominion Fire Brick and Clay Products until December 31, 1970.
• 1971 - Decline: In 1971 the plant became a subsidiary of A.P. Green Refractories Ltd. This limited the plant's prospects and appears to have hastened the plant's financial decline. Dwindling markets for refractory bricks, changing technology, the plant's outmoded equipment and corporate downsizing all contributed to the closure of the 75 year old plant in 1989.
• 1989 - Heritage Property: With the closure of the plant in June 1989 the Government of Saskatchewan decided to designate the plant as a provincial heritage site. A.P. Green donated the brick plant, machinery and equipment to the Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation in 1992. In 1994 the plant was declared a national historic site and in 1998 the Claybank Brick Plant was officially designated as Provincial Heritage Property. The Claybank Brick plant has been conserved as a part of Saskatchewan's industrial heritage with its official announcement June 29, 1997 as a National Historic Site of Canada by Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps. $2 million for the conservation and presentation of the Brick Plant by Claybank was contributed jointly between Federal and Provincial Government funding departments. In 2015, the Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation partnered with the Prince’s Charities Canada and the Prince’s Regeneration Trust, philanthropic organizations established by the Prince of Wales, to undertake a review of the operations at Claybank Brick Plant National Historic Site.

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