Brickyards, Tangipahoa Parish , Louisiana
Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Sandra McLellan, Jan. 2000
Special thanks to Jim Perrin for donating it to the archives.

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HISTORIC PONCHATOULA
Brickyards

By JIM PERRIN

Bricks have been used thousands of years as a durable, relatively inexpensive and 
attractive building material.

About 1900, there were two brickyards in operation in the Ponchatoula area.  Local 
merchant and civic leader Jacob Richard Abels (1858 - 1937) operated the Diamond A 
Brickyard west of Ponchatoula near the Natalbany River.

About 1902, J. R. Abels replaced his wooden general merchandise store on the corner of
West Pine Street and Southwest Railroad Avenue with a fine, two-story brick 
structure.  This building has stood the test of time and remains a Ponchatoula 
landmark today.

Abels' Diamond A Brickyard reportedly produced 1.5 million bricks about 1904.  
Diamond A bricks were used to construct many of the buildings in downtown 
Ponchatoula.  

A brick making operation of much longer duration was the Campbell Brickyard located 
along the railroad tracks just north of the city limit.s  This industry was begun by 
Frank J. Campbell, a native of Mississippi who had moved to Ponchatoula about 1890 
with his wife, Mary E. Mullins Campbell.

Campbell acquired 108 acres north of town in four purchases in the 1890's.  On part of 
this property Campbell established a brick making operation, probably around the turn 
of the century.  The brickyard was located near Cow Branch and the location was called
"Campbell's Switch."

Campbell constructed a dwelling for himself and his large family.  The nearby 
brickyard consisted of seven houses for workers, brick kilns, storage sheds, the steam
operated brick making plant, and a steam powered mud digger.

Campbell used his bricks to constuct a large, two-story commercial building in 1904 
on the corner of west Pine Street and Southwest Railroad Avenue.  On the east side of 
this building Campbell advertised his achievement by having "F. J. Campbell 1904" 
formed into the brickwork so that everyone arriving at the Ponchatoula depot could 
readily identify his building.

Campbell had acquired the property and two-story frame structure on that corner in 
1902 from Clemens G. Caldwell and Mrs. Martha A. Arnold, widow of Levi Arnold.  Frank 
Campbell did not have long to enjoy the fine new building that bore his name for he 
died in September, 1906.

Campbell's Brickyard was sold in 1907 to Warren and Edward Newton Kearney for 
$6,000. By 1908, the brickyard was operated by W. J. Sullivan.  The plant in 1908 
consisted of three one-story brick kilns located next to a railroad switch line.  The 
bricks were fired and finished in these buildings.

Located just east of the kilns were nine drying sheds where the newly formed bricks 
were stored.  The heart of the operation was the brick making machine, which was 
located west of the drying sheds.  The brick making machine was powered by a 65 
horsepower wood fueled steam engine.  Water for use in the steam engine was supplied
by a nearby cistern.

Stonewall Jackson Campbell (1866-1932), younger brother of Frank J. Campbell, 
acquired the brick making plant by 1923 and operated it from many years under the 
title S. J. Campbell & Son, Brick Yard.

Stonewall Campbell later went into the retail business, selling strawberry crates
to local farmers.

The Campbell Brickyard reported in November, 1937, that there were 10-15 men 
employed at the plant year around, and other men were hired when needed for special 
orders.

Although the brickyards in the Ponchatoula area have been closed for decades, their 
presence is visible today in many of the 1900-1920 brick buildings that grace Pine 
Street.  Good quality bricks and talented brick masons with an eye for detail have 
provided an excellent example of early 20th Century architecture.

The next time you are stopped in town waiting for a train to clear the tracks, glance at
the intricate brickwork on many of the buildings on West Pine Street and think of the 
brick makers and masons whose craftsmanship has stood the test of time.

Anyone having information, photographs, or documents on the people, places and 
events that have shaped our community are invited to communicate with the 
author, Jim Perrin, at 14187 Randall Ave., Hammond, LA 70403