Old Brick Kiln at Brickyard Landing Decatur

I saw a picture of this kiln posted on Glenn Wills “Forgotten Alabama” Facebook page (I love his books). I had to drive right over to check it out the same day. I had no idea this is “hiding” right behind the Ingalls Harbor Pavilion in Decatur. It is the only remaining kiln from the Alabama Brick & Tile Company, which formerly occupied this site (now occupied by the Brickyard Landing Marina). 

Patio at the Brickyard Landing Marina shop - The kiln is on the edge of the shop's parking lot

The Alabama Brick & Tile Company was established here, on the banks of the Tennessee River, in 1897. It operated many kilns; a sketch on a company-branded thermometer shows eight of them. 

Photo from Decatur Parks & Recreation

When the brick plant was razed, one kiln was left as a historical monument, although there is no sign posted. It is open and accessible to the public.

The beehive kilns were made of brick with domed roofs (similar to the beehive Coke Ovens at West Blocton Park).

The kiln dome

The brick making process began with a boat crew piloting a small tugboat and barge upstream to alluvial clay deposits along the riverbank. A 1964 TVA report lists the company’s clay pit as located at river mile 333.4 R, which puts it about where Aldridge Creek empties into the river at Ditto Landing in Huntsville. 

Bridge over Aldridge Creek where the creek joins the Tennessee River. Alabama Brick and Tile Company’s clay pit was in this area. (The bridge was built in 1925. It’s now closed.)

The boat crew consisted of just two employees: the boat pilot / machine operator and the deckhand / locomotive operator. A National Labor Relations Board Decision in 1948 described their duties as consisting of “running the barge in which the raw clay is transported to the plant, and operating the dragline, the locomotive and other machinery by means of which the clay is taken from the bank and loaded on the barge.” The daughter of a boat crew employee said they would be gone about four days at a time and sleep and cook on the boat. They returned with the clay to the company’s “major freight terminal,” which was established at the plant in 1938 with a dock, slip, crane, cable car, and electric hoist used to transfer the clay. At that time,  the president of the company was W. B. Neher. His son, Herbert Neher, was employed “in a general maintenance capacity, and the record indicates that he may be called on to perform some managerial functions.”

I haven’t been able to find many other details about the company or their brick making process. The bricks would have been shaped by molding or extruding, dried, and then stacked in the kiln.  Presumably, the carts currently in the kiln were used for moving the bricks in and out.

The two large openings in the kiln were for loading and unloading the bricks. 

Carts currently inside the kiln

The bricks were stacked in patterns (depending on the type of clay and type of brick surface), which allowed for the flow of the heated air from the top of the kiln, down through the perforated floor, into an underground flue, and out the chimney. The chimney was, apparently, torn down. 

Perforated floor of the kiln

The beehive downdraft kiln directs the hot air up the dome and down through the floor for even and efficient heating.

The heat was generated by burning coal in the ten fireboxes evenly spaced around the kiln. The fires would have been tended around the clock for 4 to 5 days. The company spent over $36,000 on Alabama-mined coal for one year of production in 1948. The walls of the kiln are several feet thick for insulation.

The thickness of the wall can be seen in the archway

Kiln temperatures, as well as the rate of heating and cooling, are crucial to brick making. In 1922, the “Brick and Clay Record” reported that Alabama Brick & Tile had recently installed pyrometer equipment as an aid in the burning operation. (Pyrometers measure very high temperatures.)

One of ten fireboxes on the kiln

More fireboxes on the kiln

The bricks were removed from the kiln after cooling. One employee’s work consisted of “pitching brick from the kiln to the wheelers, directing the wheelers to the proper part of the kiln to pick up their loads, keeping count of the loads of brick and checking the time of the wheelers.” He was paid at piece rates, and his piece rates were higher than those of the wheelers. 

Some of the brick sold was shipped by the adjacent railroad; some was hauled by trucks owned by the brother of the company’s president; and a small quantity was picked up by the customers at the plant.

This building, near the kiln, looks like it may have been part of the brick plant (and/or built with their bricks)

Brickyard Landing waterfront condos near the kiln

A second condominium complex, Lighthouse Landing, was proposed to be built next to the Brickyard Landing condos back in 2007, and the developer said he would register the kiln with the National Register of Historic Places. As far as I can tell, his development deal fell through (there is a Home2 Suites by Hilton on the site now) and the kiln has not been added to the register. The Decatur Parks and Recreation Department has included the kiln in their recent “Where Am I?” online scavenger hunt.

Another beautiful view from Brickyard Landing