In 1902, William H. McElroy started a brick yard on West 21st St., between V and W
streets, Merced. McElroy was a native of Iowa, born on March 11, 1866. He came to
California in 1888 and worked in the construction business. He married Mrs. Rena V.
Shenton in 1894, and they had a son and a daughter. In 1894, he built his cottage at
314 21st St., and later he built a larger family home on the corner of 21st St. and
Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, Modesto.
The clay was dug along the bank of Bear Creek and dumped into carts with shovels.
The clay was carted to the pug-mill where it was mixed with some sand using horse
power. There were at least four pug-mills on the grounds. The bricks were formed in
wooden molds and laid out in the field to air-dry. Firing was done in three field
kilns. A round-type of kiln with a square chimney was also used. There may have been
machinery run by steam power as well. The plant employed several Chinese workers.
McElroy bricks were the only bricks manufactured in Merced from 1902 to 1910. Any
brick structures built during this period is very likely McElroy brick. His bricks
were used in Merced's first county jail in 1902 and the first hospital built in 1903
on 15th St. McElroy operated his brick yard until 1910. He died on August 6, 1946 in
Merced. The brick yard site is now covered by a housing development.
View of McElroy's brick yard in Merced. Courtesy of the Merced County Historical
Society Archives.
McElroy Brick
Top face of the McElroy brick showing the longitudinal strike marks on an irregular surface.
Side of the McElroy brick showing an irregular lip along the top edge.
Common brick is orange red to red, mostly uniform in color. Surface is sand struck. Side has a couple
of transverse grooves. Edges are irregular. Brick may be slightly warped. Top face displays short,
longitudinal grooves. Irregular lip up to 1/4 inches thick around the top edges of the brick. Interior
clay body is full of tiny pits. Sand-molded, soft-mud process.
Length 8 1/4, width 4, height 2 1/8.
Source
Lim, Sarah. "Brick Making in Merced County." Merced County Historical Society Archives, 2006.
