Brickmakers
CALIFORNIA BRICKS
Home Page | Brickmakers
Pleasanton Brick Company (Merrill and Black)
Cory and Black
History
On the north bank of Arroyo del Valle, on the property of Joseph F. Black,
one mile east of Pleasanton, was found a surficial clay deposit suitable
for making bricks. In March 1875, William B. Merrill, a native of Connecticutt,
leased the clay bank from Joseph Black to establish the Pleasanton Brick Company.
Newspapers of the day referred to this operation as "Morrell Bros." or "Morrell
and Black". Merrill's brother was Marcus H. Merrill, who had a brickyard in Stockton,
where the brothers formerly worked in a partnership. William
had a son, George H. Merrill, who was a clerk with the company. The Pleasanton
Brick Company set up its office and distribution yard at the foot of Brush Street
in Oakland, near the residence of William Merrill.
By April 3, 1875, the Pleasanton Brick Company began to fire 200,000 bricks in
a field kiln as a test and found them to be equal to the best in the state. The equipment
included over 20 pugmill drums, six or seven field kilns, and a Standard brick machine.
The soft-mud process was used to make common, red, sanded, hand-molded bricks.
The Southern Pacific Railroad ran a spur line into the yard. Over one million
bricks were shipped to San Francisco annually. About 20 men were employed.
As most of these bricks were shipped out, some were used in the Livermore Valley.
Pleasanton bricks were donated for the foundation of the first church in Pleasanton
in 1876. Other pre-1881 building foundations and chimneys in Pleasanton may have
also used Pleasanton brick. In February 1882, bricks were shipped to Livermore for
the McLeod Building.
Merrill left the company in May 1880 and he died in Oakland on July 12, 1903. The plant
was leased by J. H. Cory in May 1880 and he continued producing brick with 48 Chinese brickmakers
and a steam-brickmaking machine at a rate of 22,000 bricks per day. By May 1881, they had increased
the production rate to 32,000 bricks per day. In September 1881, they were supplying bricks for
the Spreckles sugar factory in San Francisco. Six carloads of brick per day were shipped. By October
1881, brick demand fell and the brickyard was quiet. About March 1882, the property was purchased
by the Remillard Brothers. See Remillard Brick Company
for the continued story of the Pleasanton brick yard.
Pleasanton Brick
Common brick is dark red to pale red, with a rough sanded surface. Sides display rounded red pebbles
up to an inch across and large pits and cracks of equal size. The edges are uneven and often broken
or chipped. Irregular, discontinuous lip is present along the top edges of some bricks, but most
show no lip. Bottom face is even with some pits and visible clasts. Top face is uneven with large
pits, but no apparent strike marks. This brick was made using a machine-molded, soft mud process
in 1876. Length 8 1/4 - 8 5/8, width 4 1/8, height 2 1/2 inches.
The bricks in the foundation of the Lighthouse Baptist Church, Neal St., Pleasanton,
built in 1876, are examples made by the Pleasanton Brick Company.
Note the large round pebbly clasts protruding from the sides of the Pleasanton brick.
A brick bat from the McLeod Building in Livermore, donated by Gary Drummond, provides a description of
the brick when Cory ran the brickyard in early 1882. The brick is orange with a coating
of sand. The sand is composed mostly of clear subangular quartz, some of which are iron-stained,
minor round black magnetite and subangular hornblende. The form is good, with dull edges and
corners. An irregular lip is present around the top edges. The bottom face is even with a thick
coat of sand. The top face is pitted with longitudinal strike marks and no sand. The interior
contains less than 5 percent white subangular quartz and rounded white sandstone, less than
1/16 inch across, and vesicles up to 1/2 inch across, in a fine sandy orange clay body. The
brick is soft and this example was underfired. This brick was made using soft-mud process in 1882.
Length is unknown, width 4, height 2 3/8 inches.
View of the bottom face of the Cory and Black brick.
View of the side of the Cory and Black brick.
View of the end of the Cory and Black brick.
View of the top face of the Cory and Black brick.
View of the interior of the Cory and Black brick.
References
Livermore Enterprise, 1875-1876.
Livermore Herald, May 13, 1880.
Livermore Herald, May 26, 1881.
Livermore Herald, September 8, 1881.
Livermore Herald, September 29, 1881.
Oakland City Directories, 1875-1904.
Oakland Tribune, 1875-1881, 1903.
Copyright © 2005 Dan Mosier
Home Page | Brickmakers
Comments or questions are welcomed.
Please send email to Dan Mosier at danmosier@earthlink.net.