Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Grand Ledge Clay Products 1906-1986

After the success of the Sewer Pipe Company and its eventual sale, many of the same local investors again decided to band together and form a second clay factory. In 1906 these businessmen, among them were John Fitzgerald and R.E. Olds of Oldsmobile fame, formed the Grand Ledge Clay Products Company.

clayproducts

They purchased a fine parcel of land at the corner of West Jefferson and Lawson Road which showed excellent prospects for rich deposits of shale. Over the years, the factory mined several clay pits, all of them along the river on Lawson Road. The new factory’s land was also right next to the Sewer Pipe Company’s parcel (today’s Fitzgerald Park).

clayconduit

At the time the Vitrified Sewer Pipe Company was going great guns in producing its clay pipe, but interestingly, the new factory was not planned as competition. At this time in history many large urban areas were rebelling against the forest of telephone poles and vines of electric wires that darkened their streets. As part of the new urban planning, such eye soars were going to be buried underground. Today we use plastic conduit pipe to run wires underground, but in those days they used clay conduit tiles. Grand Ledge Clay Products specialized in this new product and eventually shipped tons of clay conduits all over the nation. Chicago was a major market. The clay conduit was a tube, about a foot long and 3inches square. It was made in single tubes, or could be fused together into bundles of two, four or six. Ironically, in spite of local editorials calling for their use to bury our power lines, Grand Ledge was not one of the cities to use them.

clayad

Clay Products was one of the larger employers in town with around 90 men. They prospered making clay conduit until the 1930’s. During the Great Depression production slowed along with the nationally economy. Then in 1937 a great fire destroyed the factory and the dies used to extrude the conduit forms. The factory was rebuilt and the company used the opportunity to shift production to sewer tile, drainage tile and chimney flues.

clayprod

By the late 1970s the work force shrank as competition from plastic pipes increased. In the 1980s the company tried to expand into floor tiles and other products. The efforts seemed to come too late however, and the Plant was closed in 1986. Sadly if the company had lasted a couple more years they might have been able to capitalize on the wave of historic restorations and the need for specialty products. For me, I will remember Clay Products as it was, with the large kilns huddled around the tall chimneys and the yard full of rows and rows of clay tile ready for shipment.

kilns2

cpadd

1 comment:

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