Queen's Run Fire Brick Company (Clinton County)

    The Queen’s Run Fire Brick Company was one of the many fire brick manufacturers in central Pennsylvania in operation through the 19th and mid-20th centuries. Fire, or refractory brick, is a combination of clay and heat resistant minerals utilized in high temperature applications such as furnaces and kilns. Concentrated deposits of clay combined with the vast network of railroads and waterways for transportation laid the foundations for one of the most prosperous fire brick companies in the region.

    Origins of the company date back to 1836 when a fire brick plant was built near the mouth of Queens Runby a firm under the name of Hollenbach, McDonnel, Whitefield and Herron. This small tributary of the West Branch of the Susquehanna contained some of the best fire clay deposits in the region. Success was almost instantaneous. 

    The operation changed hands a few times before coming under ownership of Fredericks, Munroe & Co. Around 1862, the company moved the works to nearby Farrandsville. In 1883, the Queen's Run Fire Brick Company was established. Rather than produce bricks at Queen's Run as its predecessor had,  the company opted to construct a large brick plant along Water Street in Lock Haven. Clay for the works would continue to be mined along Queen's Run.  

An 1862 map of Queens Run showing the operation of Frederick's, Munroe & Co
Image Retrieved from: Ancestortracks.com

     To extract the clay, a narrow-gauge railroad was constructed up the hollow to reach the clay pits. Initially, loaded cars were then brought down to the river where the clay was either emptied or the loaded cars placed directly onto the company’s scow, a flat-bottomed boat frequently used in shallow water. However, this system relied upon the cooperation of the river and the weather. In the spring of 1893, this vulnerability had tragic consequences.

A topographic map of Queens Run in 1920.
Mine cars were brought down to a tipple near the Pennsylvania Railroad's bridge over the river and unloaded for shipment to Lock Haven.
Image Retrieved From: https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/topoexplorer/index.html

     On April 20th, the scow had been loaded at Queen's Run with 50 tons of loose clay and 23 loaded clay cars, still below the ship’s 75-ton capacity. Aboard were three crewmen and three passengers along for the ride to Lock Haven. About halfway downriver, a violent wind storm bracketed the ship and threw waves onto the deck, soaking the clay. 

    The heavy waterlogged clay began to tip the ship over to one side. Clay cars broke loose and shifted on deck, exacerbating the problem. The wheelman attempted to steer the ship to shore, but the inrush of water proved too much for the vessel and it capsized. Thomas Reed the ship's bowsman attempted to swim to shore but succumbed before reaching land. Two of the passengers, Frederick Sonn and a unknown Frenchman from Peale also perished.

     Around 1900, the company ceased transporting clay using river boats, choosing to transport clay via the Pennsylvania Railroad to Lock Haven. A branch extended from the mainline, running reportedly upon Water Street to reach the brick works. The almost constant sound of trains moving back and forth was not appreciated by residents who lived nearby.  By 1909, the company was churning out 50,000 bricks every day.

The engine shed and yard facilities at Queens Run in 1938
Image Retrieved From: https://maps.psiee.psu.edu/ImageryNavigator/

The company's Heisler-type geared locomotive with a string of clay cars at Queen's Run
Image Retrieved From: Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania Photo Archive

     Fire brick was also being manufactured upriver. Both the North Bend Fire Brick Company of Gleasonton and the West Branch Fire Brick Company of Renovo had been in operation for several years. In 1920, Queen's Run Fire Brick Company consolidated with these two firms to form Queen's Run Refractories. Production for the new company was listed at 100,000 bricks daily. A few years later in 1929, Queen's Run Refractories became a branch of an even larger conglomerate, North American Refractories Co.

Queen's Run Refractories in Lock Haven in 1938

Photo Retrieved From: Penn Pilot Photo Center

     Records show that the brick works operated sometime into the early 1950’s. By 1959, the only thing that remained of the brick works was a vacant footprint along the river. The Lock Haven Catholic Elementary School now occupies part of the site. Reminders of the company pop up throughout the region as the brick found at Greenwood Furnace illustrates. If you ever travel internationally, keep your eyes out. Queens Run was world renowned and is known to have shipped bricks to foreign countries including Brazil and India. 

A Queens Run brick at Greenwood Furnace State Park
Author's Photo

 Information Retrieved From:

 Brickfrog. (2012, January 22).Queen’s Run refractories, Lock Haven, Penna. Brickfrog. https://brickfrog.wordpress.com/…/queens-run-refractories-…/

 Democratic Watchman.(1893,April). Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive. https://panewsarchive.psu.edu/…/sn8…/1893-04-28/ed-1/seq-8/…

 Industrial Publications Inc. (1921). Refractory consolidation in Pennsylvania. Brick and Clay Record.(58),455. https://books.google.com/books…

 Ries, H.,& Leighton, H. (1909). History of the clay-working industry in the United States. J. Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from:https://books.google.com/books…