Clay from inside the mine was abundant, and burning coal slack from the mine created a very hot fire, good for baking bricks. The brick yard was located above the main ditch and below Boot Hill Cemetery. There were four kilns which were approximately 150 feet in length. Many of the coal mine workers worked the coal mine in winter and then went to the Brick Yard during the summer months. Brickmakers would mix their main ingredients with water until it had a dough-like consistency. They rolled the clay in sand and packed it in a wooden mold. The Brickmakers then took the wet brick from the mold and put it on the ground to dry. Laborers turned them periodically to ensure uniform drying. Once dry to the touch, bricks were moved to a shed until it was time to fire them. Kilns were unfired bricks stacked oven-like with fire tunnels running through to distribute the heat. The fires burned constantly until the bricks hardened. The brickmaker watched the process closely, controlling the heat carefully. He watched the release of stream from the bricks and the changes in their color as they baked.
In the 1915 Fairview Times, Manager Slater informs readers that numerous orders for the product of his plant are being received from outside points and that the season’s business promised to be most satisfactory. As of yet the yard is not being operated up to its fullest capacity, many hundreds of thousands of first-class bricks are being manufactured. Hollow blocks, as well as bricks of various descriptions are also being manufactured. The first building built here with “Fairview Brick” was the Albert Hotel which was built by Albert Phillips. The next to go up was a two-story building, Bank of Fairview. Next was the Lew Maxson Mercantile (Water Hole #3), followed by the Fairview Chemical Company operated by Mark Deming and his brother, Bill (where the old Fairview News building stood). Next built with “Fairview Bricks” was the school, a nice three-story building which was built in 1915. After that was the Farmers State Bank building which was built on the North Dakota Side and was later known as the East Side Station (now Red Top’s gas station).
 courtesy | MonDak Heritage Center Fairview brick yard, Fairview, Montana. |
Fairview brick was also being shipped out on the Great Northern Railroad. Mule teams hauled the bricks to the railroad. One Fourth of July, a team of mules was pulling a load of bricks to the depot. To create a little excitement, a few of the local kids threw some firecrackers under one of the team of mules. The mules took off near the bridge, ran to the Log Store and then turned down main street, running like no one ever saw and scattered the load of bricks all along the way. With bricks scattered through the business district, businessmen and town’s folk– after a good laugh – chipped in to help pick up all of the bricks.
In 1917, C. P. Slater sold his interest to Warren J. Jennison. A banquet was given to Mr. Slater with more than 20 business men present. Several speeches were made by each person expressing their regrets that Slater was going to leave the business circle. A card case and a box of cigars was presented to him. Slater expressed his own regrets of leaving his business partners and friends. He had not decided where he would locate but had several places in mind and would re-enter the brick business at one of the points he considered.
The Fairview Brick Yard ran for four or five years, provided jobs for many of the locals and bricks for much construction before they ran out of clay on Boot Hill.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Information compiled from Fairview Times.
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