With the arrival of the railroad in 1869, Ogden became the greatest railroad center of the Rocky Mountain region. With an eye on the expanding economy, Sam Gates established an Adobe Mill in 1870 on the north side of 2nd Street about three-fourths of a mile from Five Points [1]. Excellent clay for adobes was available in the sloughs by Stone’s Pond. [2] His son, George Gates, and his son-in-law, James Gardner, assisted him. The adobe mixer or mill was located by Sam’s cabin at today’s intersection of 2nd Street and Century Drive.
The adobe bricks (“dobies”) were made from marsh mud and were sun-dried. Usually, the mud and water were mixed by feet, hoe or shovel. Feet were ideal as one could sense when the mud was properly mixed with as little water as possible. After mixing the mud was placed into molds and sundried until firm enough to be stacked.
Joseph Romrell, son of George and Patience Romrell, was born in 1870. His first job as a young boy was at the Gates adobe brickyard where he carried the bricks from the molds to the drying yard. The next day they were topped and turned over to dry on the other side. [3]
There are two houses on 2nd Street built with adobe bricks from the Gates Mill that are still standing in 2022. Today’s walls of the James Stone house at 386 West 2nd Street are thirty inches thick, built with adobes from the Gates Mill but now covered with siding. The Peter Sherner house at 122 2nd Street is adobe, now covered with cement.
The Moroni Stone house at 226 2nd Street was built with adobe brick in 1880, and Moroni made the bricks himself. This the only house on 2nd Street with visible exterior adobe bricks, now sealed with a protective sealant and painted. The Moroni Stone house provides a rare view of well-preserved adobe walls under the porch that spans two sides of the house. People who live in adobe houses with thick walls find that these walls form some of the best insulation available. [4]
Some people wanted a more durable brick, so James Gardner built a kiln in the 1870s to fire the sun dried adobe bricks into a burnt brick. A brunt brick was harder than an adobe but soft compared the bricks that would be made after the turn of the century.
Sand and gravel were not suitable for bricks that would be fired in the kiln; small particles of limestone even smaller than a pea could cause the brick to explode when it was fired. The marsh mud around Stone’s Pond was pure mud and was ideal for making burnt bricks. The burning in the kiln usually took from three to four weeks. The bricks nearest the fire and farthest into the stack became the hardest and were used on the outside walls as they were more weather resistant. Softer bricks were better for insulation and were used on the inside walls. [5]
Gardner located the kiln and brickyard about three blocks north of Sam’s cabin and the adobe mixer. The site of the kiln is on the south side of North Street across from the house located at 371 W. North Street. This site was close to the marsh and to Stone’s Pond. The adobe mill and the brickyard were connected by a lane, the old Sam Gates Lane.
Today, there remain three houses and two granaries that were constructed over 100 years ago with burnt bricks.
[1] - Editor Milton R. Hunter, Beneath Ben Lomond’s Peak, 1944, Quality Press Salt Lake City, Utah, p. 362, 425.
[2] - William W. Terry, Weber County History Is Worth Knowing, p. 120.
[3] - Ibid, p. 120, 122; Nina Bowman, Joseph Romrell, p. 274.
[4] - William W. Terry, Weber County History Is Worth Knowing, p. 122.
[5] - Ibid.