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Pacific Pottery
History
The Pacific Pottery was started in 1856 by Hevener & Walter in the eastern section
of Sacramento, where they made sewer pipe and pottery. In 1864, Nehemiah Clark purchased
the pottery and began the manufacture of vitrified sewer pipe, chimney pipe, and the
popular "Pacific" fire brick. Clark was a native of Dover, Delaware, and came to California
in 1850. His was among the first fire brick made in California, during a time when most
fire brick were being imported from Great Britain and from eastern firms.
In 1880, an office and depot was opened at 1047 Market St., San Francisco, where Clark
sold fire brick and other clay products. In 1883, the office was moved to 22 California
St. When Clark opened a new pottery plant at Alameda in 1886, his son Albert V. Clark managed
the Sacramento plant.
The Pacific Pottery was a two-story building and 230 square feet in size. The plant used
3,000 tons of clay per year. The clay was obtained from Michigan Bar and transported to
the plant by the Sacramento Valley Railroad. The machinery in the plant was powered by
a steam engine. There were four kilns, each 20 feet in diameter and eight feet high. The
sewer pipe was made using a Barber patent sewer-pipe press, with 80 tons of pressure,
and a capacity of 1,200 lengths of two-foot pipe per day. There was no description of the
brick press, but from the fire brick it appears to have been made by a dry press. The
plant employed 20 to 30 men.
After the Alameda plant was established, N. Clark & Sons closed the Sacramento plant in
1887 and transferred their business to Alameda, where they continued to make fire brick,
sewer pipe, pottery, and other clay products (see N. Clark & Sons, Alameda County). Nehemiah
Clark continued to reside in Sacramento, where he died in 1897 at the age of 68 years.
Pacific Brick
View of the brand name on the face of the Pacific fire brick. Donated by David and Hildegard Gettner.
The fire brick is orange-red on the surface, but the interior is composed of yellow clay body,
which is chalky soft. The surface is rough with numerous pits and black iron spots, up to 1/8
inch across. The edges are straigt and the corners sharp, as if pressed in a machine. One of
the faces is impressed with PACIFIC as recessed letters in the center of the face, but not on
a straight line, as if individual letters were stamped separately. The letters span 5 1/2 inches
and are 7/8 inch high. A single thumb print is usually present near the left or right edge of the
face with the brand name. A radial strike pattern is on the branded face. Dry pressed process.
Length 9, width 4 1/8, height 2 1/4.
Source
Hanks, Henry. "The Minerals of California". California State Mining Bureau
Eighth Annual Report of the State Mineralogist, 1884, p. 142.
Thompson and West. "History of Sacramento County, California." Oakland, California,
1880, p. 164.
Copyright © 2006 Dan Mosier
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Please send email to Dan Mosier at danmosier@earthlink.net.