Located within a very rich clay deposit, fire brick was produced for decades in Olive Hill, Kentucky that was shipped worldwide.
History
Olive Hill, located in western Carter county in Kentucky, is located within a rich clay deposit. Different grades of clay are located in the vicinity with varying colors that range from shades of gray to white. The textures are also just as different, going from a fine grain texture to more of a plasticity feeling. For nearly a decade, clay was shipped from the Olive Hill region to Ashland and Louisville, Kentucky, and some locations in Ohio due to the railroad’s completion in 1883.(1)
The first immediate fire brick plant was not constructed until 1895, when the Olive Hill Fire Brick Company, later renamed to General Refractories Company of Philadelphia, constructed its plant at Olive Hill along U.S. Route 60 just west of the town’s central district. The company constructed the Burnt-House mine which contained pure fire clay that was 27-feet thick in places. The high quality of the clay made for excellent brick to which it was sold all over the world in Japan, Cuba and Canada.(1)
The factory was upgraded in the 1940s to better compete with the many brick plants in the region. At around this time, the workforce swelled to its peak. Unfortunately, there were changes in the industry that caused the decline of the Olive Hill Fire Brick Company. Oxygen-induction furnaces were invented in the 1950′s and quickly became the norm, replacing the need for regular and silica fire bricks.
Ultimately, the changes in the fire brick industry forced the factory to close in the 1970s.(1)
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