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Golden Gate Brick Company

History


This company started up in 1903 with its brick plant located on River Road, one mile east of Antioch, and main office in the Rialto Building on Market Street, San Francisco. First officers of the company were W. G. Wridge, president; Frank Rehorn, vice-president, B. G. McDougall, secretary and treasurer. General Manager Fred Dodd was later replaced by Clarence F. Pratt. The plant in Antioch manufactured sand-lime bricks. Sand-lime bricks, also known as sandstone bricks, were manufactured by mixing fine sand with lime and molded into bricks, which were fired in a kiln. The Golden Gate Company also was a dealer in sand and gravel and other building materials as indicated in their advertisements.

In 1907, the Golden Gate Brick Company partnered with the Stockton Fire and Enamel Brick Company to add clay bricks made at the Stockton plant, located near the Jackson Baths on the southern limit of the city. The Golden Gate Brick Company was the only company in northern California at the time to supply both sand-lime and clay fired bricks. The Stockton plant consisted of five brick kilns, two brick pressing machines, two cutting machines, pugmill, dry pan, oil tanks, two boilers and a steam engine. The brick machinery was run by four motors. The clay was shipped by rail to the plant from Carnegie, Ione, Valley Springs, and Lincoln. About 25 men were employed to produce fire-brick, with the "Stockton" brand name, face brick, white enameled brick, common red brick, rug face brick, hand-molded material, and linings. Magnesite from Sonoma County was used to make magnesite bricks. Plant capacity was 50,000 machine-made bricks per day. Bricks were shipped to the Stockton and San Francisco markets by the Southern Pacific Railroad. George Wheatley and later John T. Roberts were managers of the Stockton plant.


Clarence F. Pratt. From Architect and Engineer, May 1913.

Examples of Golden Gate sandstone brick can be seen in the Southern Pacific Hospital, 1400 Fell St., San Francisco. The No. 17 buff clay pressed brick was used to face the Eddy Apartment, 555 Eddy St. and the Wilson Building at 340 Stockton St., San Francisco.


Advertisement for the Golden Gate Brick Company. From Architect and Engineer, Jan. 1910.

The red pressed brick faced the Moore Building, 225 Pine St. and the residence at 3636 Washington St., San Francisco. No. 21 white enameled brick was used in the residence at 3636 Washington St. and the U.S. Post Office on Mission St., San Francisco.

Clarence Pratt left the company to start his own building material company in 1913. The last manager of the company was H. Strudwick. The Golden Gate Brick Company closed operations in 1914. The sand-lime plant in Stockton was dismantled. The Stockton plant was purchased by the Stockton Fire Brick Company.


View of the Golden Gate Brick Company's plant at Stockton, also known as the
Stockton Fire and Enamel Brick Company. From Architect and Engineer, Dec. 1911.


Golden Gate Brick

Red Pressed Brick


View of the Golden Gate Red Pressed Brick.


View of the mottled color of the Golden Gate Red Pressed Brick.


Red, orange-red to orange, mottled dark and light shades, not uniform. Ends tend to have darker cores and lighter edges. Sides may show darker edges. Smooth sides and ends, some displaying tiny pits, some with black iron spots less than 1/4 inch. Edges straight, corners sharp. Example shown was made in 1911. Length 8 1/4, width 3 7/8, height 2 1/4.


White Enameled Brick No. 21


View of the Golden Gate White Enameled Brick No. 21.


Mat-white enamel, uniform in color. Some bricks show minor blistering or spalling of enamel, showing a white clay body beneath. Tiny black spots less than 1/8 inch on some surfaces. Some appear to have a lip 1/4 inch along one edge. Edges straight, corners sharp. Example shown was made in 1911. Length 8, width 3 7/8, height 2 1/2.


Buff Pressed Brick No. 18


View of the Golden Gate Buff Pressed Brick.


Salmon to buff, freckled with brown to grayish black iron spots up to 1/4 inch. Sides may display transverse strips or areas of lighter color. No visible marks on sides and ends. Curved wire cut marks on faces. Edges undulate slightly. Corners are sharp. Example shown was made in 1911. Length 8 1/4, width 3 5/8, height 2 3/8.


View of the Golden Gate Buff Rug Brick.


Light and dark buff, some freckled with irregular shaped black iron spots up to 1/2 inch across and white quartz up to 1/16 inch across. Sides have 21 to 31 deep transverse grooves. Ends have 9 to 11 deep transverse grooves. The grooves are 1/4 inch wide and evenly spaced. Faces could not be observed for description. Example shown was made in 1912. Length 8, width 3 7/8, height 2 1/2.

Source

Architect and Engineer, Jan. 1910, p. 109; July 1910, p. 108; July 1911, p. 107; Oct. 1911, p. 124; Dec. 1911, p. 106; Jan. 1912, p. 106; May 1913, p. 136.

Boalich, E.S., Castello, W.O., Huguenin, Emile, Logan, C.A., and Tucker, W.B., 1920, The Clay Industry In California: California State Mining Bureau Preliminary Report 7, p. 94-95.

Brick and Clay Record, v. 23, no. 8, Oct. 29, 1903, p. 32.

Brick and Clay Record, July 30, 1907, p. 37.

Brick and Clay Record, Sept. 14, 1907, p. 34.

Brick and Clay Record, 1912, v. 41, no. 10, p. 400.

California State Mining Bureau Report 14, 1915, p. 608-610.

Contra Costa County Directory 1910-1911, 1914-1915.

San Francisco City Directories 1904-1914.

Copyright © 2005 Dan Mosier

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