As you drive up Cole Street, through what is referred to as Cole Hollow, you can see remnants of one of East Peoria’s first major manufacturing plants, Carter Brick and Tile Company. I was first aware of the brick operations in Cole Hollow in the late 1960s when I was employed as Superintendent of Parks for Peoria Park District. The park district was constructing horseshoe pitching courts in Bradley Park and club members discovered the gray clay found in Cole Hollow was ideal for their use. The park district was allowed to transport clay that had fallen from conveyors to Bradley Park to construct the horseshoe pits. 

Frederick R. Carter was born in 1852 in the state of Maine and was raised in Calumet County, Wisconsin where his father was a brick manufacturer. He moved, with his wife, Kate, and family to Tazewell County in the spring of 1899 having purchased or with the intent to purchase the Spurck Paving Brick Plant near Wesley City. He and his family appear near Wesley City in the 1900 Federal Census. Shortly after, Carter moved his residence to Peoria and opened an office and display room in the 100 block of Bridge (Kumpf) Street. The Spurck plant was located on Wesley Road next to the Lake Erie Coal and Mining Company. The 1907 Peoria City Directory lists Frederick as President and Treasurer of Eire Coal and Mining Co. as well as a brick manufacturer. He soon found the best clay and shale deposits in the area were on the East Peoria side of the river, and by 1905 had gained the reputation of producing the highest quality bricks in the state. In 1909 Carter opened a new plant on Cole Hollow Road and was soon producing 40,000 bricks a day at his East Peoria plant. In April of 1925, Frederick purchased the Rapp Clay Products, 600 Cole Hollow Road, after the death of Barthol Rapp in 1924. Rapp Clay Products formerly operated as Cole Creek Clay Works. Barthol was one of the six Rapp brothers who started the tile and pottery operations in Morton. With this addition, Carter increased his Cole Hollow manufacturing acreage to 110 acres, and he closed the “Spurck” plant. The business was operated by Frederick, his three sons, Charles, Raymond, and Benjamin, and son-in-law Harry Mau. Charles became president of the firm after his father died in 1931 and operated as Peoria Brick and Tile Company.

Carter Brick and Tile had ten operating kilns on their property. The kilns were circular dome-shaped brick structures measuring 30 feet in diameter, 16 feet in height, and capable of holding approximately 70,000 bricks. Shale rock was pulverized and slurry was prepared and poured into dies to form the desired shapes and sizes. From there, it went to a cutting machine where “green bricks” were cut and passed on a belt to workmen who placed them on small trucks. These trucks were moved on a track to the drying tunnels, where the bricks were dried for 48 hours under temperatures of 250 degrees. After cooling, the trucks were moved to the kilns, where they were fired for approximately seven days at a temperature of 1,850 degrees.

By 1939 eighty sizes of bricks were being manufactured by Peoria Brick and Tile Company. Bricks were being produced pink, red, brown, black green, and buff. When in full production the plant had 30 employees and operated on a three-shift schedule, seven days a week.

The plant was operated by the Carter family until 1966 when it was purchased by Thomas J. Carney, son-in-law of Charles Carter. The business is now operated by Tom Carney, Jr. who stated “After my grandfather, Charles Carter, passed away in 1964, the business transferred to my mother, Jane Carter, and father, Tom. I started in 1970, and my sister, Mary Pat Turner, and her husband Steve started in 1978. They retired in 2010. Now we run the business, which includes my daughter, Kim, who serves as senior vice president, and her husband, Kevin Reece, who is vice president.” In May of 2013 Peoria Brick opened a second location in Mossville. Today, the family-owned and operated Peoria Brick Company is one of the oldest firms in the state and although it quit producing bricks in 1982 it remains the largest brick, stone, and landscaping distributor in central Illinois, representing more than 100 manufacturers nationwide.

Compiled by Frank Borror – October 2014

Article was originally written by past East Peoria Historical Society President Frank Borror.