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Clay Miners- can you dig it?
In 1850, 43% of St. Louisans were born in Germany or Ireland. When the rail system became operational in 1852, the Irish who concentrated in the Cheltenham neighborhood, now Dogtown, jumped on the low-skilled labor jobs in the mines and factories. St. Louis was a miner's town, complete with a hospital for women of ill-repute who kept the clay miners company. Italians settling in the Hill area, African Americans in Hadley Township, and all others willing to labor could find employment opportunities at the many mines and factories. To see a huge array of brick factories and clay mine photos, visit the Missouri Department of Natural Resources: https://dnr.mo.gov/geology/geosrv/geores/indmin/historicalphotosclay.htm
A Miner and His Mule
As you can imagine, the life of a miner and his mule was pretty difficult. The clay had to be mined by hand. After riding down into the shaft in a cart, the miner would use a pick and a shovel- which he had to purchase himself- to knock the clay loose and load it into boxes and cart it out of the mine. Then it was loaded into little boxcars and taken to the brick factory yards were it sat and cured for 3-5 years! Mules were used to pull the carts, and they were treated miserably, as was the style at the time. After the clay cured, master molders would break it up and grind it with other clays before hand forming the bricks, thousands a day. When the hydraulic press was invented, millions of bricks were manufactured in a year. Instead of hand packing, Setters & Burners were tasked with placing the green (unfired) bricks in the kiln; Firemen who kept the fires burning; and Off-Bearers who carted the finished products away.
Brick work was hot and intensive, and a labor of love. Here are workers at the brick press of the Hydraulic Press Brick Co.
Strike!
In 1901, kiln operators in St. Louis went on strike. The Cheltenham plant shuttered on a Saturday evening after workers finished the bricks they had been firing before the strike, as they didn’t want to waste time or product. 300 strikers at the Laclede Brick company stood in solidarity, and were fired the following Tuesday as result. That evening, the kiln workers met to organize a union. Laclede and Christy brick companies end up merging in later years. Their dedication to their fellow worker and the products they were creating is so admirable.
Hard Labor in the Gilded Age
Miners for Christy-Laclede
A kiln at Christy Brick Co. -->
Top middle: bricks are loaded onto a wheelbarrow at Christy-Laclede.
Above: A mule helps out at the mine.
Segregation & the Fire Brick Industry
The Hadley Township is located in Richmond Heights, though it is largely redeveloped now from its original status as an historical African American neighborhood built up around the Evens & Howard Fire Brick Company. St. Louis was segregated at that time (the mid to late 1800s and for about 100 years after that), so the brick company set up shop there to employ current residents and attract more.
In the 1950s, St. Louis was still segregated and African Americans were still in the brick industry. Past Alderman Samuel Moore's father was a bricklayer in The Ville neighborhood, building ornate and intricate brick Victorian-style homes, many of which have fallen prey to brick thieves leaving just a shell of what once was majestic. For more details visit the site under the map!
The Wee Railroad
Here's the engine of the train nicknamed "The Dinky", which was responsible for carrying men and clay between the mines located around Chippewa and Brannon- an area nicknamed "The Diggins" by miners, to the Christy factory near Kinghighway and Christy Blvd. where a 7-11 and Big Lots now stand. To see the engine visit the Kirkwood Museum of Transportation, and to see the remnants of the tracks you'll need to go to the alley between Macklind and Brannon one block south of Chippewa. Happy tracking!
Here he was in the late 1800s with a switch operator! For more pictures like this check out http://web.nationalbuildingarts.org/collections/clay-products/fire-brick/laclede-christy/
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