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Mattoon is bounded on the north along Riley Creek and on the south along the Kickapoo by thick beds of clay. These deep veins of clay lie just a few feet below the ground. At the turn of the last Century a few entrepreneurs recognized the potential in this natural resource and began to manufacture bricks and tile used in drainage. Most of the early brick buildings in the Broadway and Western business districts were constructed with bricks fired in kilns right here in Mattoon. |
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J. W. Hogue opened the first brick and tile factory along the, then, southern edge of the city in 1876.
That area is now the entrance to Lawson Park. |
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As the clay and top soil was removed a deep hole was formed which filled with water. People called it
Hogue’s Pond. It became a place where youngsters could ice skate in the winter and fish in the summer.
In 1914 It was ordered filled -in to allow for new streets south of the tile works. J. W. Hogue continued to operate the factory until his death in 1913 at which time it was closed. |
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In 1883, Theodore Jonte built a large brick and tile works at the north end of the city to capitalize on the clay formations there. |
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He later organized it as the Mattoon Tile Company. The plant made use of a 40 horsepower Chuse engine, manufactured in Mattoon by the Chuse Engine Works. Mr. Jonte operated the plant for 30 years and shipped millions of bricks in this part of the state. |
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In 1912 the stock of Mattoon Tile Company was secured by H. W. Clark, S.W. Phillips and others, in a liquidation sale. They continued the business for a short period. H. W. Clark eventually incorporated the site into his foundry operation. |
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Theodore Belting established a third brick and tile manufacturing plant in Mattoon. He built a plant in
1897 near the Hogue plant, in order to access the plentiful clay deposits in that area. The output of
Mr. Belting’s plant was 1.5 million bricks annually. The business was very successful for years, but
Mr. Belting invested in several other business ventures that failed and those failures took the brick
business with them. The plant was closed in 1909. |
