In April 1887, Daniel McGregor established a brick yard at Morden. He burned his first kiln of bricks in late July and his product was graded as No. 1 quality; the dark-coloured was described as “handsome.” His first shipment was sent to Manitou and he supplied the brick for the new Land Titles Office at Morden, in 1889. By 1895, local businessman Jacob Heinman purchased all the brick that McGregor had in stock at the yard, approximately 40,000, and ordered more to be made. McGregor was unable to fulfill his order and Heinman’s bricks had to be brought in from elsewhere. McGregor’s brick yard was still in operation in 1896, when he provided bricks to veneer Lyon’s new house at Morden. By this time he was producing a brick that was darker in colour than the earlier ones. The yard was still in operation in 1897, when a human skeleton was discovered while workers were taking out clay at the yard. In 1902, a Winnipeg newspaper made reference to McGregor’s yard being a small operation but his yard was no longer mentioned after 1909.
Manitoba Brick Yards by Randy Rostecki, Manitoba Historic Resources Branch Report, May 2010.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 10 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.
