The Hartney Brick and Delft Company was established at Hartney in 1898. The brick yard was located a short distance east of the town on 15 acres of land that was said to have a nearly inexhaustible deposit of clay. The yard was managed by George Sackville. The first kiln of bricks was fired in July 1898 and they were shipped out in large quantities on the Northern Pacific and Manitoba Railways throughout the season, until November when the yard was shut down. In 1899, a man by the name of Little joined the company. William Kirkland took over from Sackville in 1901 and produced his first kiln of 80,000 bricks in May 1902. By 1904, the Kirkland yard produced a kiln of 150,000 bricks. The plant produced white-coloured brick that were made using a steam-powered brick machine. Kirkland employed ten men and on average produced 30,000 bricks per day by 1907. The yard produced 1,000,000 bricks in total that year. Kirkland bricks were used to construct the A. E. Hill and Company Building at Hartney. In 1912, the yard shipped approximately 1,000,000 bricks to Regina, Saskatchewan for use in the construction of the city’s Legislative Building. By 1914, business had slowed and the yard was closed by 1920. After the yard closed, Kirkland became a full-time trapper, which he had done as a source of income during the off-season while the brick yard was operating.
Manitoba Brick Yards by Randy Rostecki, Manitoba Historic Resources Branch Report, May 2010.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 9 May 2020
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.
© 2010-2020
Randy Rostecki, Manitoba Historic Resources Branch, Gordon Goldsborough, and Manitoba Historical Society.
All rights reserved.
