The Robbins Brick Yard
The Robbins Brick Yard was the site of a brick manufacturing operation in Robbins, Tenn. during the early 20th century. The Brick Yard was in operation from 1889 to 1939 and was one of Scott County’s largest employers during that 50-year time span.
Earliest Days
In the 1880s, the city of Cincinnati, Oh. began a railroad project that would link itself to the city of Chattanooga, Tenn. The route of the Cincinnati-Southern Railroad — which is today known as Norfolk-Southern Railroad — passed through Scott County, Tenn.
At Robbins, which would become a major depot on the Cincinnati-Southern line, a seam of coal was discovered that measured two feet in thickness. As a result, the land was purchased and Robbins Coal & Mining Co. was established.
As the coal was being mined, it was discovered that there was a seam of clay beneath the coal seam that measured four feet in thickness. Adam Ott, a Cincinnati resident employed by the railroad, realized the potential for brick production that utilized the large deposit of clay. He solicited investment from William Lasley of Chattanooga, who owned brick manufacturing plants in Birmingham, Ala. and Warrior, Ala. Together, the men purchased the land from the Robbins Coal & Mining Co., and formed the Tennessee Paving & Brick Co. in August 1889.
Three kilns were built, using equipment that was transported to Robbins from the Lesleys existing plants in Alabama. The company also built a commissary, an office, and some company homes.
Much of the initial labor force at The Brick Yard, as it would soon come to be known, consisted of men who had moved to the area to work on the construction of the railroad.
Southern Clay Manufacturing
In 1902, New Jersey-based Southern Clay Manufacturing Co. purchased the Tennessee Paving & Brick Co. This began the heyday of the Robbins Brick Yard.
A railroad spur was built from the Cincinnati Southern Railroad to the Brick Yard. A boarding house was built, representing some of the best amenities for that time — including lodging, bathing and dining. A large boiler was added, which served the Brick Yard until 1925, when a new power house was built. The latter was powered by two diesel engines, which provided power to the more than four dozen buildings that made up the Brick Yard, as well as the town of Robbins.
Labor & Pay
In addition to firemen, miners and common laborers, the Brick Yard had a boarding house keeper, storekeeper, clerk and bookkeeper. During World War I, when many of the company’s employees were off to war, women were employed at the Brick Yard.
Most employees worked 10-hour shifts, six days a week, from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Firemen worked 8-hour shifts, seven days a week.
Pay ranged from $1.25 to $2 per day. Payroll was issued once each month. However, during the earliest days of the Brick Yard, employees were required to spend their wages at the company store. Some time later, that requirement changed, and employees were required to spend at least half of their wages at the company store.
At the peak of production in the mid 1920s, more than 300 people were employed by the Brick Yard.
The Brick Making Process
Brick manufacturing at the Robbins Brick Yard required three primary ingredients: Clay, shale, and coal. Coal was loaded into the boilers and kilns, providing power for the rest of the process. There was a pit for the shale and a bin for the clay. Small railroad cars, powered by miniature steam engines, transported the materials.
The shale and clay were ground into a fine powder, using a coal-fired crusher. Water was then mixed with the powder, and the mixture was stirred with large, wooden augers to create a dough. Water was provided by three man-made ponds at the Brick Yard.
Molds were then used to cut the dough, using wire. At the peak of production in 1925, the molds could cut 25 bricks at a time.
The molded dough would be stamped with the Southern Clay Manufacturing Co.’s logo, then loaded into dryers that were built with coal-powered fans. This initial drying process could turn out up to 100,000 “green bricks” per day.
Once finished with the initial drying process, the green bricks were transferred to one of the Brick Yard’s kilns, which numbered 21 by the peak of operations. Firemen shoveled coal into the kilns to maintain the hot temperatures required to bake the bricks.
Bricks required up to 12 days to bake. Each brick weighed about eight pounds. Salt was added during the baking process to help make the bricks waterproof.
Writing for the FNB Chronicle in 1990, Keith Henry said that up to 25,000 bricks were placed in each kiln at a time, and as many as 8,100 finished bricks were loaded onto each buggy once the baking process was complete. Men worked in teams of two, with one tossing brick to his partner, who would stack them onto a railroad car. Each railroad car contained as many as 10,000 bricks, and a team of two men could load a car in one day.
Brick uses
Many of the bricks manufactured in Robbins were used to pave highways. The Dixie Highway’s original routes between the Midwest and the Southeast, constructed in the 1910s and 1920s, were paved largely with brick from the Robbins Brick Yard.
The Dixie Highway spurred the start of tourism in Florida. Prior to the creation of the highway system, Florida’s cities were largely linked by roads that were rutted and sometimes impassible. The Dixie Highway, construction of which began in 1914, linked cities like Orlando, Daytona, Tampa, Fort Myers, and Miami. The brick used to pave the route was provided by Southern Clay Mfg. in Robbins and Graves Brick Co. in Birmingham, Ala.
The operation’s downturn
Several factors contributed to the decline of the Robbins Brick Yard. The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 paused construction projects in much of the South, including in Florida. New paving materials were being used in road construction by that time, including asphalt. With brick already falling out of favor, the Great Depression further set back operations at the Brick Yard.
In 1939, the final bricks were baked at the Robbins Brick Yard, and Southern Clay Mfg. was closed. The diesel engines were sold to a buyer in Texas. Much of the rest of the equipment was sold as scrap iron. The land was donated to Scott County to be sold at auction, and was purchased by Robbins resident G.C. Pemberton.
Several of the dozens of buildings at the Brick Yard stood throughout the 20th century until they finally crumbled in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Brick Yard Remnants
The construction of U.S. Highway 1 in 1938 rendered Dixie Highway largely obsolete. In some areas where the highways overlapped, the brick pavers were torn up and replaced by asphalt. In other areas, the bricks were reclaimed for use in buildings or other construction. In some cases, the Dixie Highway was simply abandoned, and the bricks gradually sank into the Florida sand.
Today, the original brick paving of the Dixie Highway can still be found in a few places, and the Southern Clay Mfg. bricks that were baked at the Robbins Brick Yard can still be found. One such place is in the town of Espanola, Fla., where there is an 11-mile stretch of the Old Dixie Highway still intact with the original brick paving.
Today, all three of the ponds at the Brick Yard still exist. The largest, located on U.S. Highway 27, was once a popular location for baptizings and swimming. It is known locally as Brick Yard Pond and remains in the ownership of the Pemberton family. All three of the ponds drain into Black Creek. The valley through which the headwaters of Black Creek flow, on the west side of U.S. 27, is known as Brick Yard Hollow.
There are a few remnants of the Brick Yard production buildings. However, they’re located on private property and to venture to them would be to trespass.
The large curve on U.S. Highway 27 just south of the Brick Yard is still known locally as “Brick Yard Curve.” A road to Baptist Memorial Cemetery on the ridge above the Brick Yard is known as Brickyard Road.
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