Evidence of old Odessa brick factory still exists

We were the beneficiaries last week of contractor Peter Cooper’s interest in masonry. He is the gentleman working on The Odessa Record/Any Occasion Banquet Hall building, scraping away old paint, repairing broken brick and adding the proper type of mortar to stabilize the building.

On Tuesday evening of this week, he told us he worked until midnight reparing the arch above the main doors to The Record’s offices. He told us he had to finish the work all in the same day because he had to replace the damaged brick immediately. Otherwise, the bricks above the damaged area would also loosen and come down. Normally, brick would stay in place above a hole created for repair purposes, but the age of the building and the quality of the mortar were such that he felt compelled to fill the hole right away rather than waiting until the next day.

Cooper’s interest in brickmaking led him to begin asking questions about the old Odessa brickworks built at the very beginning of the town’s existence. He was advised by townspeople to contact Eddie Kern, who has collected much memorabilia and knows much history of the town of Odessa. He definitely found the right contact person. Kern took him right to the ruins of the old brickworks west of the town limits. Part of the basalt-rock foundation and the mortar holding it together are yet visible, and a few leftover bricks litter the area around it.

Our wish to see the site was delayed by having to deal with a customer in the office, but Cooper was willing to make another trip to the site so that we could take pictures of what remained of the building. While there, only a few feet away we also stumbled across the ruins of the kiln that had been used to fire the brick, a round concrete structure with a smooth, finished interior.

According to former publisher Don Walter’s account of Odessa in Lincoln County: A Living Legacy, the brickworks was built in 1901, and its product was used to construct the first brick building in Odessa, that of the Odessa State Bank. Although our archives are missing several early issues of The Odessa Record, we have the very first edition as it was reprinted under Walter in the centennial edition of the newspaper in 2001. In that issue is a small article with the headlline “To Manufacture Brick.”

The article states, “Wilson of Davenport has opened a three-mill brick yard with a capacity of 7,000 bricks daily under the supervision of P.M. Martin, an expert brickmaker. Mr. Martin will put a large force of men to work on Monday, and the burning of the brick will begin in short time. Mr. Wilson has purchased two town lots on Main street upon which he will erect two brick blocks. The firm of Barney & Michaelsen will also erect a brick block on Main street as soon as the brick can be secured, and there are other prospective blocks in sight.”

Walter, Kern and others, have said that the Odessa State Bank building was constructed of Odessa-made brick. However, that same first issue of The Record that mentions the brickworks states that the Odessa State Bank was already settled into its “new building at the corner of Main and E streets.” So the history remains a bit murky.

We have found no information on where the clay used in making the Odessa bricks was found, although Kern mentioned that he thought it was “near the old water tank.” As it turned out, and as Cooper confirmed, the Odessa bricks were too soft for the liking of the builders, and as far as could be determined, the current Odessa Record/Any Occasion building is the only one ever constructed using that soft brick.

The brickworks soon faded into history, and landowners purchased better quality brick from elsewhere to build the stately brick buildings that still reside on First Avenue in Odessa.

Anyone who may be able to shed more light on the early days of construction in Odessa and specifically on the brick-making operation is asked to please contact The Record at 982-2632 or via email at therecord@odessaoffice.com.