Fondo BF 1 - Claybank Brick Plant fonds

Capitol Theatre building, Regina

Área de título y declaración de responsabilidad

Título apropiado

Claybank Brick Plant fonds

Tipo general de material

  • Documento textual
  • Material gráfico
  • Dibujo arquitectónico
  • Dibujo técnico
  • Microform
  • Material cartográfico

Título paralelo

Description type

Título declaración de responsabilidad

Título notas

Nivel de descripción

Fondo

Institución archivística

Código de referencia

BF 1

Área de edición

Declaración de edición

Declaración de responsabilidad de edición

Área de detalles específicos de la clase de material

Mención de la escala (cartográfica)

Mención de proyección (cartográfica)

Mención de coordenadas (cartográfica)

Mención de la escala (arquitectónica)

Jurisdicción de emisión y denominación (filatélico)

Área de fechas de creación

Fecha(s)

  • 1916-1989 (Acumulación)
  • 1898-1991 (Creación)
    Creador
    Claybank Brick Plant, 1898-1991

Área de descripción física

Descripción física

17.800m of textual records
ca. 294 photographs
ca. 343 architectural drawing sets
14 microfilm reels (217.0 m)
1 map

Área de series editoriales

Título apropiado de las series del editor

Títulos paralelos de serie editorial

Otra información de título de las series editoriales

Declaración de responsabilidad relativa a las series editoriales

Numeración dentro de la serie editorial

Nota en las series editoriales

Área de descripción del archivo

Nombre del productor

(1898-1991)

Historia administrativa

The origins of the Claybank Brick Plant go back to 1886 when Tom McWilliams, a homesteader in the Claybank, Saskatchewan area, began mining heat-resistant or 'refractory' clay, on his property. This type of clay is well-suited for manufacturing fire brick, which is used to insulate boilers, fireplaces, furnaces, and other high-heat areas. In 1904 Mr. McWilliams entered into a formal agreement with the Moose Jaw Fire Brick and Pottery Company, which acquired the original McWilliams homestead plus other nearby clay deposits. Development of the property was hindered by lack of access to primary markets, but when the Canadian Northern Railway line was built in the district in 1910, the access problem was solved and plant construction could begin.

In 1912 the Moose Jaw Fire Brick and Pottery Company restructured, purchased Mr. McWilliams' shares, and became Saskatchewan Clay Products. (This was a private company that was not related to the Crown Corporation Saskatchewan Clay Products, which was founded in 1945.) The brick plant was completed in 1914, only to close until 1916 due to World War I and an economic recession.

The company was reopened in 1916 as Dominion Fire Brick and Clay Products Ltd. The revitalized company expanded its product line to include face brick and specialized firebrick. In the 1920s the company began producing high grade refractory tiles. These specialized tiles were used for flue and furnace linings, steam engine linings and locomotive arch bricks. This product helped the company survive the Depression. By 1938 the Claybank Brick Plant was the busiest in the province. During World War II, the company's products were used extensively by the Royal Canadian Navy in the construction of corvettes. By 1950 the plant was the largest in the province.

In 1954 the Claybank Brick Plant was purchased by the Alberta company Redcliffe Pressed Brick and renamed Dominion Fire Brick and Clay Products (1954) Limited. For the rest of its operating history, ownership of the plant would be from outside the province of Saskatchewan. In 1955 controlling interest in the company was purchased by A.P. Green Fire Brick Company of Mexico, Missouri. This company, one of North America's leading producers of refractory products, modernized the plant's operations. One of the first changes was the conversion of six of the ten beehive kilns to natural gas from the traditional lignite coal. This change meant the end of face brick production, as face brick got its coloring from the coal-fired kilns. The company was also losing market share for its refractory products, primarily because diesel locomotive engines were being adopted by the railroads. The company tried to compensate for these losses by aggressively selling other forms of fire brick, a technique that was only partially successful.

By 1962 A.P. Green had complete control of the Claybank Brick Plant, although the company continued to operate under the name Dominion Fire Brick and Clay Products until 1970. By 1971 the plant became known as a subsidiary of A.P. Green Refractories (Canada) Ltd. This full integration limited the plant's prospects and appears to have accelerated the plant's final economic decline. Dwindling markets, changing technologies, outmoded equipment and corporate downsizing all contributed to the plant's closure in 1989.

Following the closure of the plant in June 1989 the Province of Saskatchewan indicated its intention to designate the plant as a provincial heritage site. In 1992 A.P. Green donated the site, including the brick plant, machinery and equipment to the Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation. In 1996 the plant was declared a national historic site. In 1998 the Claybank Brick Plant was officially designated as Provincial Heritage property.

Historial de custodia

In 1992 the site was acquired by the Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation through the donation of land, buildings, and records by A.P. Green Refractories (Canada) Ltd. to the Crown. The records remained stored on-site at the plant until transfer to the SAB.

Alcance y contenido

This fonds consists of records created, accumulated and used by the Claybank Brick Plant in Claybank, Saskatchewan from 1898 to 1991 (predominantly 1914 to 1989).

Included are records created, used, and accumulated by managers and staff of the Claybank brick plant when it was known as the Moose Jaw Fire Brick and Pottery Company, Dominion Fire Brick and Clay Products Ltd., Dominion Fire Brick and Clay Products (1954) Ltd., and A.P. Green Refractories (Canada) Ltd.

Records include: labour and employment records; union agreements; site management records; occupational health and safety records; production, shipping, and finance records; and research and development records including lab reports. A large number of photographs, architectural drawings, maps, plans and specifications are also included in the fonds.

This fonds is arranged into the following eight series: Labour and Employment Records; Site Management Records; Production and Shipping Records; Financial Records; Research and Development Records; Photographs, Architectural Drawings, Maps, Plans & Specifications; and Miscellaneous Records.

Área de notas

Condiciones físicas

These records were exposed to adverse environmental conditions. Some records exhibit damage due to water, mould or excessive dirt.

Origen del ingreso

Records were transferred to the Saskatchewan Archives Board per Frank Korvemaker of the Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation on the following dates: July 7, 1998 (R98-214), October 13, 1998 (R98-287), March 24, 1999 (R99-157), May 19, 2000 (R2000-215), June 8, 2000 (R2000-224), July 7, 2000 (R2000-246) and July 14, 2000 (R2000-254).

Arreglo

A wide variety of original arrangement systems existed for the fonds, including alphabetical, numerical, and alphanumerical systems.
Arrangement of these records was conducted by archivists based on an original order.
The records have been organized into eight series that are further broken down into sub-series.
Most of these reccords have been arranged chronologically, but in a few instances, certain series have been sorted alphabetically or, when possible, by the original alphanumeric system.
Microfilm was produced on reels with no delineation between series.

Idioma del material

  • inglés

Escritura del material

Ubicación de los originales

Disponibilidad de otros formatos

Some electronic copies of photographs are available in Archival Digital Storage.

Restricciones de acceso

Some of these records are subject to access restrictions.

Condiciones de uso, reproducción, y publicación

Use, publication and/or reproduction of records may be subject to terms and conditions of the Copyright Act and/or a donor agreement.

Instrumentos de descripción

SAFA 1-1 (researcher version) and SAFA 1-2 (restricted version) consist of a fonds description, 8 series descriptions, file listings of textual records, microfilm and architectural drawings, and some item listings of photographs.

Uploaded finding aid

Materiales asociados

Materiales relacionados

Acumulaciones

No further accruals are expected.

Nota general

Some electronic copies of photographs are available in Archival Digital Storage.

Descripción física

During processing of records, the number of architectural and technical drawings, photographs, and maps in each file was not recorded. Consequently, the number of items identified in the physical description refers to the items for which item level descriptions are available.

Descripción física

Since microfilm was produced on reels with no delineation between series, determining how many centimeters of microfilm pertains to a particular series is not easily obtainable.

Derechos

Restriction record identifier: 2050

Restriction record created: 2015-08-25 by KMAJOR

Status of records review:
Access to records varies. Records review conclusion based on information about the accession, fonds, series, or collection. Series 1 and 5 are restricted - Records relating to personnel, union negotiations, workers' compensation claims, and payroll. Researchers interested in consulting restricted material must apply to the Provincial Archivist. The rest of the collection is open. Copyright transferred to the Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan.

Restrictions information:
Basis: legislation
Determination date: 2015-08-25

Jurisdiction: Saskatchewan
Citation: The Health Information Protection Act

Basis: policy
Determination date: 2015-08-25

Policy title: FOIP

Conservación

In some cases, photocopying or microfilming was performed on these records and originals destroyed or returned to donor.

Designaciones alfanuméricas

Textual records: SAFA 1 (R-1722)

Microfilm: Micro. R-2.1082

Architectural drawings: R-P77

Identificador/es alternativo(os)

Original ID

BF 1

Área de número estándar

Número estándar

Puntos de acceso

Puntos de acceso por materia

Puntos de acceso por lugar

Puntos de acceso por autoridad

Tipo de puntos de acceso

Área de control

Identificador de registro de descripción

BF 1

Identificador de la institución

Reglas o convenciones

Saskatchewan Archives. Archival Description Manual 2004.

Estado de elaboración

Final

Nivel de detalle

Idioma de descripción

  • inglés

Escritura de la descripción

  • latín

Fuentes

Contents of the fonds.
Accession file

Área de Ingreso

Materias relacionadas

Personas y organizaciones relacionadas

Lugares relacionados

Tipos relacionados