Tuesday, September 23, 2014

The Saginaw Paving Brick Company

You ever look down at a brick sidewalk and see the bricks that have "Saginaw" imprinted on them?  Have you ever wondered about the story behind them?  Well, wonder no more.
It was approaching the end of the 1800's and the lumbering industry was on the decline as we had somehow managed to clean out the forests around Saginaw and Bay City.  Companies needed a way to make money, so some of them turned to making bricks.

The Saginaw Paving Brick Company was established in 1894 orignally as the Saginaw Clay Manufacturing Company.  The bricks were shipped all around Michigan by the Pere Marquette Railroad and the clay for their manufacturing came from a mine near Flushing, MI.  Saginaw bricks are vitrified, which means that they were glazed and hardened to protect them from moisture and other elements.  This made them famous for their toughness.

The Saginaw Paving Brick Company also made bricks for the construction industry and their bricks were used for many buildings around Saginaw.  But the test of time was not kind to many of those buildings and they are no longer around.  These bricks were also used in the building of schools around the state of Michigan.

A railroad strike in 1910 caused a brief stoppage in manufacturing.  World War I also put a stop to production.  In 1920, the company was sold to Carde Stamping and brick production stopped.    I wonder how far around the country these bricks have spread?

12 comments:

Unknown said...

My dad has a couple hundred of them!

Brad

DnLeiner said...

Brad, would your dad want to get rid of those bricks or sell them?

Linda Potter-Gallant said...

I have a few hundred of them...do you know the value of these bricks?

Unknown said...

I was able to salvage 14 Saginaw bricks from the former Grand Trunk Western Railroad station at Valparaiso Indiana before the station was moved several years ago.

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Evan Raymonds said...

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Brian said...

You'll find these bricks at former Grand Trunk Railway stations all over Ontario, Canada and Michigan, USA. I've seen them in Newmarket and Orillia, Ontario. Durand, Owosso and Mount Clemens, Michigan. I should have pictures of all of them at these stations.

PiaPet said...

I live in Mid Michigan and have several that I'm currently stacking in my back yard. They are heavy!!!

Supercrazy said...

I have some 10.00 each

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Unknown said...

My father-in-law use to work at the Saginaw Brick Yard that was located on Wood Street in the Saginaw Township. They also made those SAGINAW bricks. He worked there in the 1950's and 1960's. My husband is 71 years old and he remembers going there to take his dad lunch. We still have some of those bricks.

Unknown said...

"SAGINAW" Bricks were made on Wood Street in the "SANDHILL" in Saginaw Township.