Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Kreitzer, H. R. 
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com January 23, 2011, 2:41 pm

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 752 - 753
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     H. R. KREITZER, well known in connection with the Columbia Brick Works, 
Inc., of Portland, of which he is secretary, is contributing to the successful 
management of this enterprise through his sound judgment, progressive methods 
and indefatigable industry. He ranks high among the brick manufacturers of the 
northwest, where he has centered his labors since 1906. He is a native of 
Indiana and in that state acquired his education and received his early 
training. After leaving school he went to South Dakota, where he was 
associated with a general contractor for about six years. Attracted by the 
opportunities of the growing west, he then made his way to the Puget Sound 
country in 1906 and engaged in the sale of clay products at Seattle and 
Tacoma, thus becoming familiar with the trade and with the line of goods 
manufactured. He carried on his operations in that field until 1920, when he 
left Washington to become a resident of Oregon. The company of which he is now 
secretary had its inception in a business which was established in 1906 at 
Gresham by A. Klose, who had located the clay deposits there after a year or 
two devoted to prospecting for clay. He had previously been engaged in the 
brick business in Nebraska but had come to the northwest for the benefit of 
his health. He started the new enterprise in a very modest way with a limited 
amount of machinery, small capital and but few employes. He utilized the old-
time methods in open-air drying and the open kiln. The plant, however, was 
gradually enlarged and modernized. After a time they built six units 
(permanent kilns) of a new type, which were patented, the process being worked 
out by Mr. Klose. This was about 1908. Subsequently eight more units were 
added and in 1919 six more units. Today the company utilizes twenty units in 
the conduct of its business and there are now a number of plants in the United 
States and Canada which use the kiln that was perfected by the Columbia Brick 
Works. The firm was incorporated in 1909 and opened its Portland office about 
1910, being one of the first building material firms to locate on the east 
side. Mr. Klose still remains as president of the company, although he is now 
inactive in its management. H. R. Kreitzer, as the secretary, has charge of 
the sales and distribution, while F. Olbrich, the vice president, is at the 
plant at Gresham, Oregon, and handles the manufacturing. The capacity of the 
plant is eighty tons of manufactured ware per day and includes common and face 
brick, hollow building tile, fireproofing tile, drain tile and radial chimney 
brick. About twenty-five men are employed at the plant and the output is 
shipped over Oregon, Idaho and southwestern Washington. For eight years Mr. 
Kreitzer has been active in the management of the business from the 
headquarters in Portland and not a little of the success of the undertaking is 
attributable to his efforts and progressive spirit.

     Mr. Kreitzer was married in Tacoma to Miss Mary Hak and they are now 
parents of two children, Katherine and John. Mr. Kreitzer is a member of state 
board for vocational education and of the apprenticeship commission, governing 
vocational education in Portland, and is interested in all projects which have 
to do with the improvement and upbuilding of this section of the country. His 
efforts, however, are chiefly concentrated upon his business affairs and he is 
well known in trade circles, serving now on the board of directors of the 
Oregon Building Congress and on the board of directors of the Builders 
Exchange, and is president of the Pacific Northwest Brick & Tile Association, 
an organization of the clay products manufacturers of Washington and Oregon.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/bios/kreitzer1398gbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/

File size: 4.4 Kb