Brick by Brick

More than a century ago, rich soil and sunny skies beckoned homesteaders to the northern Great Plains. Though the tall-grass prairie promised fertile farmland, it lacked a basic element for building homes—trees.

While sod homes initially provided shelter for many families, the discovery of clay soon gave birth to brick manufacturing plants across North Dakota.

Today, only one brick manufacturer remains, linking past to present. Hebron Brick Co. in Hebron uses 65,000 tons of clay a year to produce nearly 30 million bricks and sells them to building contractors across the United States and Canada.

“If it wasn’t for the Hebron Brick Co., there would not be a Hebron,” says Ken Rehling, who has worked at the company for 35 years.

Over the last century, the brick-making industry has helped sustain the town, providing jobs and income during lean times on local grain farms and cattle ranches.

Most of the buildings on Hebron’s Main Street are made of brick. Some of the structures date to 1905, attesting to the practicality and durability of brick as a building material. The Northern Pacific railroad depot and many early homes were constructed of locally produced brick, as was a recent addition to St. Ann’s Catholic Church, first established as a parish in 1906 and constructed of brick in 1950.

The town’s first brick plant—Hebron Fire and Pressed Brick Co.—opened in 1904, a few years after European immigrants discovered clay in the nearby hills. The clay was extremely smooth, with an almost soapy-like feel, making it ideal for bricks. The early brick makers hand mixed the clay with water, then cut and fired the finished rectangles in a large kiln.

Today, depending on how long and how hot the bricks are fired, 16 different colors and five textures can result, says Plant Manager Brian Jennings. Modern coatings can produce 15 more colors.

In the early days, horses and wagons hauled the clay to the factory. By 1914, the job was done by locomotives and rails, and today trucks and loaders supply Hebron Brick with 65,000 tons of clay each year.

Fire destroyed much of the plant in 1926 but did not deter its owners. The company president obtained new machinery and equipment, and the plant was operating profitably again by 1929 and through the Great Depression.

Jennings attributes the company’s survival to its willingness to change with the times. In 1999, the company opened a new $10 million plant, complete with computers and robotic machinery. The Hebron Brick plant employs 50 people and remains the largest employer in the town of 803 residents.

“They are our major economic force, but they also support the town by coming through with donations and sponsoring activities,” says Cathy Spangelo, who, along with husband Bob, owns Spangelo Funeral Home in Hebron.

Hebron, like many small towns in North Dakota, lost population in recent decades as a result of smaller families, farm mechanization, and the decline of family farms. The town’s population peaked at 1,412 in 1950.

Still, the century-old brick industry remains a solid foundation for the town, and clay reserves in the nearby hills are sufficient to supply Hebron Brick Co. into the next century.

“I’ve lived my whole life here and I like it,” says Bob Nagel, who retired in 1999 after 40 years as a forklift operator at Hebron Brick and raised three children in Hebron. “If it wasn’t for the brick factory, Hebron would be a ghost town.”

Patti Maguire Armstrong is a freelance writer in Bismarck, N.D.

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