In February 1905, the Brookdale Brick and Tile Company was established at Brookdale by Robert Dorrell Hales and his sons. This was to be an expansion of their Rapid City Brick Works at Rapid City. Hales purchased a quarter section of land from Robert Dodd, near the village, after he had obtained clay samples from the site that were analyzed and pronounced to be of the best quality for the production of bricks. The firm designed a $15,000 plant and began hauling 500 cords of wood needed for fuel to the site. By mid-May 1905, Hales had eight men under his employ and began producing approximately 20,000 bricks per day that were red or white in colour.
In 1907, Hales built a permanent kiln at the yard site and made many other extensive and expensive improvements. Despite having to shut down the site in early July, the season was pronounced successful and, in early 1908, plans to form a joint-stock company were made public. The $40,000 capital this would provide was needed in order to enlarge the plant and install more machinery to begin producing hollow brick, tile, and sewer pipe. By the end of June, the Brookdale plant was in full production with its new products. By 1911, 30 men were employed at Hales’ yard. While the site was said to have shut down at some point between 1913 and 1922, the business charter was revived in February 1923. This would be cancelled again by June 1929.
Building
Location
Year
Status
123 Main Street, Winnipeg
1908
?
Carberry News, 26 August 1904, page 8; Carberry Express, 1 September 1904, page 1; Carberry News, 17 February 1905, page 8; Neepawa Register, 2 March 1905, page 7; Carberry News, 24 February 1905, page 8; 12 May 1905, page 8; Brookdale Community, 1878-1967 (Carberry: News-Express, 1967), page 11.
Manitoba Brickmakers by Hugh Henry, Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, 1992.
Manitoba Brick Yards by Randy Rostecki, Manitoba Historic Resources Branch Report, May 2010.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 12 May 2019
Manitoba Bricks and Blocks
A history of the manufacture of bricks and concrete blocks in Manitoba, based on research by Randy Rostecki for the Manitoba Historic Resources Branch and supplemented by information compiled by Gordon Goldsborough of the Manitoba Historical Society. .
Bricks | Blocks | People | Glossary
We thank Hugh Arklie, Gordon McDiarmid, and Heather Bertnick for their help in the development of this online guide. Financial support of the Thomas Sill Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. Additional information was provided by Ina Bramadat, David Butterfield, Neil Christoffersen, Frank Korvemaker, Ed Ledohowski, Ken Storie, Lynette Stow, and Tracey Winthrop-Meyers.
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Randy Rostecki, Manitoba Historic Resources Branch, Gordon Goldsborough, and Manitoba Historical Society.
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