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Albion Pottery
Antioch Pottery Company
Mt. Diablo Sewer Pipe & Paving Brick Company
California Brick and Clay Works

History


In 1868, Isaac Nicholson, a potter from England, purchased the McMaster and Barker brick plant and converted it to manufacturing mainly chimney and sewer pipes, terra cotta, and stove linings. Hand-molded common brick were also made. The pottery was known as the Albion Pottery. Six to eight men were employed in the pottery. Clay was obtained from the local clay pit and from the Brentwood coal mine. The plant building was single story, 150 feet long and 100 feet wide. Common bricks from this plant were used in the nearby Roswell Hard residence in 1869, and probably in the Casino Hotel, a couple of blocks east. The historic Hard house is fenced so a detailed description of this brick could not be obtained. The Casino Hotel was rebuilt in 1885 and is probably a mixture of the 1850s McMaster brick and 1885 Albion brick. But because the bricks were painted, it was not possible to distinguish the two bricks. There are probably other examples of the Albion bricks in Antioch yet to be identified. The Albion Pottery closed in 1886.

Shortly afterwards, the Antioch Pottery Company was formed to operate the pottery, mainly for the manufacture of sewer pipe. This operation became known as the Antioch Pottery. There is no record of brick production from this operation. In 1896, the pottery's name was changed to the Mt. Diablo Sewer Pipe and Paving Brick Company. E.T. Maples was the plant superintendent. Clay was obtained from the foothills to the south and from its pit west of the pottery. The pottery was able to supply 12-inch, 8-inch, and 6-inch clay pipes, as well as roof tile, fire-proofing, and flower pots. Paving bricks were not made, because the pottery closed in 1897, before the company could secure the brickmaking machinery.


Post card view of the California Brick & Clay Manufacturing Company's works, Antioch.

The California Brick & Clay Manufacturing Company reopened the pottery during the 1900s to manufacture brick and other clay products. The works became known also as the California Pottery. In 1911, the Standard Sewer Pipe & Terra Cotta Company took a four-month option on the pottery and made repairs and additions. This company had a capital stock of $1,000,000 and was based in San Francisco. The officers of the company were W.F. Barnes, H.C. Norton, E.C. Leffingwell, William Sea, Jr., and J.A. Bloch. Probably a small quantity of brick was made here between 1911 and 1913, before the company foreclosed. In 1913, the property was taken over by the Bank of Antioch.

Finally, in 1917, Louis Steiger, M.M. Miner, and M.E. Empena, took an option on the pottery and ran some product tests. Steiger and Miner were from the Steiger Pottery of South San Francisco, which had been destroyed by fire and so they were looking for a new manufacturing plant. Steiger opted for the Vallejo plant and dropped the Antioch plant. The old Antioch pottery was eventually sold and dismantled. Today an adult school stands on part of the property.


Albion Brick


The Roswell Hard Residence, Antioch, was built in 1869 using Albion common brick.


View of Albion common brick in the walls of the Hard Residence, Antioch.


Common brick is orange red to pale red, mostly uniform in color. The sides are sand struck and uneven with an irregular lip around the top edges. Top and bottom faces could not be observed for a description. Sand-molded, soft-mud process. No dimensions available.

Source

Brick and Clay Record, v. 39, no. 5, 1911, p. 191.

Brick and Clay Record, v. 39, no. 4, 1911, p. 155.

Brick and Clay Record, v. 38, no. 2, 1911.

Brick and Clay Record, v. 39, no. 4, 1911, p. 154.

Brick and Clay Record, v. 43, no. 8, 1913, p. 823.

Brick and Clay Record, v. 50, no. 10, 1917, p. 977.

Brick and Clay Record, v. 51, no. 2, 1917, p. 156.

Brick and Clay Record, v. 52, no. 4, 1917, p. 340.

California State Mining Bureau Report 13, 1896, p. 614.

Clay Record, v. 9, no. 1, July 14, 1896, p. 23.

Clay Record, v. 9, no. 2, July 28, 1896, p. 19.

History of Contra Costa County. W.A. Slocum & Co., San Francisco,1882.

Copyright © 2007 Dan Mosier

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