woolsey.]  CLAYS    OF    OHIO    VALLEY    TN    PENNSYLVANIA.  479 
Fire  bricks  were  first  made  in  this  region  by  S.  Barnes  &  Co.,  about 
a  mile  above  Rochester,  on  Beaver  River,  as  early  as  1839,  and  this  is 
said  to  be  one  of  the  oldest  brick  works  in  the  State.  At  present  this 
company  manufactures  fire  brick  and  refractory  materials  of  all  kinds. 
A.  F.  Smith  &  Co.  began  the  manufacture  of  fire  brick  east  of  New 
Brighton  in  1847.  At  one  time  they  made  both  fire  brick  and  build- 
ing brick,  besides  shipping  considerable  raw  clay.  In  the  same  year 
fire  brick  were  produced  on  the  south  side  of  Ohio  River  opposite 
Beaver,  where  at  present  the  works  of  the  Stahl  Fire  Brick  Company 
are  situated.  Twenty  years  later  the  Vanport  Brick  Company  was 
established,  and  made  some  fire  brick  in  connection  with  building  and 
paving  brick.  Since  then  several  brick  works  have  been  started, 
which  make  some  fire  brick,  but  the  fire-brick  industry  has  receded 
before  the  more  profitable  building  and  paving-brick  industr}^.  a 
Building  and  paving  materials. —  Building  materials  are  practically 
limited  in  this  region  to  building  and  paving  brick  of  two  general 
classes,  that  made  from  the  Lower  Kittanning  clay  and  that  made 
from  terrace  clays.  The  former  produces  brick  of  various  colors, 
depending  upon  the  amount  of  iron  present  and  the  duration  of  firing; 
the  latter  always  produces  a  deep  red  brick.  The  two  clays  are  some- 
times mixed  to  obtain  various  intermediate  effects.  These,  too,  are 
often  obtained  by  mixing  shale  with  Lower  Kittanning  clay. 
Paving  brick  require  a  clay  similar  to  that  used  in  vitrified  building 
brick  and  sewer  pipe.  The  clay  must  be  such  as  will  thoroughly 
vitrify  without  melting  out  of  shape,  must  be  plastic  for  working  into 
shape,  and  should  contain  iron  for  colors.  The  iron  should  not,  how- 
ever, be  present  in  grains,  as  it  then  renders  the  brick  blotchy  and 
rough.  Shales  and  impure  fire  clays  mixed  with  each  other  or  with 
terrace  clay  give  satisfactory  results. 
Many  of  the  companies  already  mentioned  make  building  and 
paving  brick,  beside  fire  brick. 
The  Fallston  Fire  Clay  Company  is  one  of  the  most  prosperous  manu- 
facturers of  high-grade  building  brick  of  different  shapes  and  sizes, 
and  also  of  paving  brick. 
The  red-brick  industry  began  as  early  as  1852,  when  A.  F.  Smith 
began  the  manufacture  of  red  brick  from  the  terrace  clay  east  of  New 
Brighton.  Levi  Fish,  A.  Devvhirst,  and  T.  Dewhirst  have  all  operated 
extensively  in  this  industry,  and  all  used  clay  from  the  high  terrace 
between  New  Brighton  and  Rochester. b 
A  brickyard  owned  by  Mr.  Agner,  situated  between  the  railroad 
and  Ohio  River  at  the  upper  part  of  Rochester,  produces  red  brick 
from  the  alluvium  of  the  river  bank.  The  brick  are  burned  in  the 
ordinary  open-top  updraft  kilns  used   in   this   industry.     With  this 
a  Hopkins,  T.  C,  op.  cit.,  65-67.  /'Ibid.,  p.  120. 
