Brent Peterson: The Brickyards and Quarries of Stillwater

Looking down Stillwater's Main Street you see all the 19th century brick business blocks. Stillwater, of course, was originally made of all wood structures. However, fires and the decay of the wood over time, forced the businesses to construct stone and brick buildings.

Stone and brick were shipped into Stillwater from other locations until 1859, when Frederick Steinacker opened a brickyard.

The brickyard was a small operation to begin with. Employing only three or four men, they manufactured about 200,000 bricks per year.

In 1861, Steinacker enlisted in Company B of the First Minnesota Regiment and fought in the Civil War. He was discharged at Brooklyn, New York in 1863. Upon returning to Stillwater, he resumed the making of bricks. Steinacker married Magdalene Stoltz in 1865 and together they had six children, one of whom would take over his father's business.

In 1875, Steinacker enlarged his operation by moving to the southern end of Lily Lake. By 1880, he was employing fourteen men and producing up to 900,000 bricks per year.

Steinacker died in 1882 at the age of 54. His son, Albert, took over the business and continued to manufacture bricks, mainly for the local area.

Another brickyard was located at the North end of Lily Lake operated by William Miller. This yard, by 1887, employed thirty men and produced 30,000 bricks per day, with an annual total of nearly 2.5 million bricks.

Not much else is known about the brickyards. Every now and then, when walking around Lily Lake, one occasionally finds a clump of red bricks, remnants of an industry nearly forgotten in Stillwater.

With all the homes and stores being constructed in Stillwater, there was a need for stone for foundations, streets, and prison walls, and so there were two quarries that operated in Stillwater during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Stillwater's first major quarry was on the bluff in the South Hill part of town. It began operation sometime in the late 1850's, and was owned and operated by the Hersey, Bean & Brown Lumber Company. This quarry made stone mainly for local use in homes and businesses. By 1890, the quarry was owned by Isaac Staples and employed from twelve to sixteen men. Staples increased the output so that he could have an occasional shipment. It was said that Staples stone was a better quality than the popular St. Paul Blue Stone.

The other major quarry was on the bluff in the North Hill part of town. This quarry was owned and operated by Chris Carli Jr., the son of Dr. Christopher Carli. Carli started this quarry in the 1880s, and continued operation into the 20th century.

The Carli Quarry was a busier place than the Staples Quarry. Carli employed between twenty-five and thirty men in 1890, and produced a similar stone as the other quarry. Carli stone was used in building the west wall of the prison and for street curbing. Some ledgers and receipts of the Carli Quarry are in the collections of the Washington County Historical Society.

Today, these brickyards and quarries, which helped Stillwater build her homes and businesses, are the sites of homes themselves. No longer are homes or stores or walls built with stone, preformed concrete is the style today. However, many buildings built with stone or brick from Stillwater have withstood the test of time and are still here for people to enjoy.

Brent Peterson is the Executive Director for the Washington County Historical Society.