History
In 1886, Reuben and Melissa Simons and their six children left Hamburg, Iowa, for Los Angeles, California.
Reuben was a brickmaker, born in England in 1836, and had immigrated to the United States in 1866. Reuben and
his teenage sons, Joseph, Elmer, and Walter, located a clay deposit in the southern part of Pasadena, where
they opened their first brickyard. In 1896, they formed the Pacific Brick Company, with Joseph Simons as manager
and Elmer O. Simons as secretary. Their main office was located in the Stimson Building at 125 West Third Street
Los Angeles. The Pasadena brickyard was a great success and soon the Simons sons were eager to expand
their brick manufacturing business to other areas.
In 1898, they were interested in the clay deposit at Boyle Heights in Los Angeles, and purchased 11 acres of land
on the east bank of the Los Angeles River. The tract, located on a bluff 70 feet above the river, commanded
a beautiful view of downtown Los Angeles. Initially, the Simons brothers formed the Pacific Brick Company to
operate this yard, but it later became known as Plant Number One of the Simons Brick Company. This is not
to be confused with another Reuben Simons brickyard that was located nearby on the south side of East 7th
near Boyle Avenue. This Reuben Simons may have been a cousin of the Simons brothers and he was operating a
brickyard here as early as 1894. It may well have been their cousin Reuben who tipped off the Boyle Heights
location to the Simons when they were seeking additional clay deposits to mine.
The plant office was set up at 1117 South Boyle Avenue. Over the years, this company expanded to 30 acres
on this site. In 1900, the Simons Brick Company was incorporated with a capital stock of $100,000.
Joseph Simons was president, Elmer Simons was secretary and treasurer, and Walter R. Simons was
vice-president.
The clay bank was in the upper part of the Boyle Heights Terrace formation, which is a sandy loam, 30 feet
thick, resting on sand and gravel. A steam shovel excavated the clay from the wall of the steep bluff. The clay
was put into dump cars and then power drawn up an incline to the Potts crusher. Later, as the quarry widened,
a two-horse team was used to convey the clay to hopper.
View of the Pacific (Simons) Brick Company's machine building at the
Boyle Heights brickyard, Los Angeles. From the Clay Worker, 1900.
At the plant, the Boyle Heights clay was dropped into the Potts crusher by the automated dump cars,
screened, and mixed with a little water in the pugmill. The bricks were formed using a Potts brick press.
A Chandler & Taylor 30-horse-power engine provided power for the machinery. The plant building was made of
open construction so as to take advantage of the natural climate all year round.
View of an off-bearing truck used at the Boyle Heights
brickyard, Los Angeles. From the Clay Worker, 1900.
The newly formed bricks were then loaded onto specially made off-bearing trucks capable of holding 12 pallets
of brick. The bricks were air-dried in dry sheds and then placed into large scove kilns, each holding 200,000 bricks.
These kilns were fired with oil, requiring 1.5 barrels per thousand of brick. The bricks were burned in
three days, producing uniformly hard burned, square cornered brick, that rang like a bell. Around the arches
of the kiln were formed a bonus of "blue" brick, which were popular for trimmings and sold for twice the price
of regular red brick. The sand-molded bricks were stamped with "SIMONS" in raised letters set in a rectangular
frog. But not every brick was marked. The daily output of this plant was about 36,500 brick.
View of the large scove kiln at the Boyle Heights
brickyard, Los Angeles. From the Clay Worker, 1900.
In 1900, there were about 15 employees. They worked eight to eight and a half hours per day. The yard men, miners,
machine operators, and teamsters were paid $1.75 per day; pitchers, $2.00 per day; setters and burners, $2.50 per
day; and other laborers, $0.75 to $1.25 per day.
Brickyards within the city limits of Los Angeles came under the scrutiny of city officials instigated by the
increasing number of complaints of local residents concerned about the noise and smoke pollution. On December 31,
1901, the city passed an ordinance regulating the establishment and maintenance of brickyards in the city. The Simons
Brick Company had to apply for permission to continue to operate their brickyard on Boyle Avenue. On January 27, 1902,
the Boyle yard was granted the city permit to operate in Boyle Heights. By 1902, the company was producing 150,000
brick per day from their Pasadena and Boyle Heights yards. A large order for 1,400,000 brick was made for the new
Potter Hotel in Santa Barbara, keeping both yards busy.
View of the Simons Brick Company's Boyle Heights brickyard. From Aubrey, 1906.
In 1906, after a new clay deposit was purchased by the Simons Brick Company in Santa Monica, a tiling plant was
built at the Boyle Heights yard. This plant manufactured mission-style roofing tile and hollow tile blocks,
using a mixture of the local clay and the Santa Monica clay. The Southern Pacific laid a spur railroad track
to the yard. But disaster struck in April 1914, when sparks
from an electric controller fell on the roof of the tiling plant causing $15,000 in losses to the brickyard.
The brick and tiling plants were rebuilt with new equipment. The new brick plant got the American soft-mud and
stiff-mud brick machines for making common brick and ruffle brick, respectively. The new tiling plant was
equipped with the American presses for manufacturing 8-inch hollow tile and roofing tile. Eight down-draft kilns
were built for burning the tile. These kilns used natural gas. The bricks were fired in field kilns.
Home of Joseph Simons constructed of hollow tile walls and roofing
tile made at the Boyle Heights brickyard. From Byers, 1915.
In 1913, Elmer Simons, a native of Iowa, died at the age of 44 years. In 1916, Walter Simons bought all
of the interest in the brick company from his brother Joseph Simons, who decided to embark in the citrus
business in San Bernardino County. That year the company had decreased its capitalization from $600,000
to $300,000.
In 1919, the Simons Brick Company began producing the 12-inch brick hollow wall. This required the use of
special stretcher and header bricks placed on a wall of standard bricks spaced four inches apart and five
courses high. The stretcher brick is the same size as the standard brick with its corners cut off. The header
brick has rounded ends and two indents on top for stronger mortar support. The header brick is marked with
the SIMONS brand name. These units were manufactured only at the Boyle Heights plant. They were used in
a number of warehouses, schools, and residences in Los Angeles.
View of the Simons Brick Company's Boyle Heights brickyard. From Merrill, 1916.
The company officers in 1928 were Walter Simons as president, Robert P. Isitt as vice-president, H. B. Howeth
as secretary, and J. T. Crampton as treasurer. By this time, the Boyle Heights clay deposit was exhausted and all of the
clay used at this plant was shipped from their clay pit in Santa Monica. Some time during the 1920s, this plant
ceased making brick and only hollow tiles and roofing tiles were made. The tiles were formed by the stiff-mud process
using Mueller machines. After one week in the drying shed, the tiles were fired in down-draft kilns. The yard by this
time had expanded to 12 down-draft kilns and a double rectangular kiln. By mixing the Santa Monica clays with white
plastic and pink-burning clays, purchased from Alberhills in Riverside County, they were able to produce light
pink, cream, and buff tile.
During World War II, the Boyle Heights plant reduced production of their products due to the war and labor shortage.
The demand declined for the hollow tile units as concrete was becoming more popular in structural walls.
In 1947, the Simons Brick Company closed the Boyle Heights yard. In 1948, parts of the Boyle Avenue property were sold
to the Times-Mirror Press and other industries. Two years later, in November 1954, Walter Simons passed away at the
age of 80 years.
Simons Boyle Heights Brick
