Yesterday And Today, A Salute to Blyth's 125th Anniversary, 2002-07-31, Page 27Taking a break
The gang at the Fraser and Logan brick yard, located where
the pond at Sparling's is today, takes a break for a photo.
Ponds are only evidence
today of brick and tile yards
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THE CITIZEN, YESTERDAY and 'wpm'', WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2002. PAGE 27.
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There's history in the Radford building
Those who are coming back to
Blyth for the village's I 25th
anniversary homecoming will notice
a significant change in•the building
at the corner of Queen and King
Streets that is home to George
Radford Construction. Though the
building looks new compared to the
building that stood there in 1977, it
actually takes the building back to
the appearance of the original livery
stable that stood on the site.
The building was restored by the
company in. -1984 closer to the
appearance it had when Billy Bell
and his sons ran a livery stable there
at the turn of the century. The
building was more famous during
the ownership of the legendary Dr.
Perdue. The veterinarian who
bought the building in 1906, kept his
office there and was famous for the
black bear and wild cat he kept as
pets In 1941 George Radford had
'purchased the .building from the
estate of .
George Radford had removed the
second story of the building and put
in truss that allowed for the hoisting
of equipment.
It was the beginning of a
tremendous period of growth for the
young man who had started out at 15
years of age in 1927 when he
purchased his first International
truck from the White Motor
Company for the princely sum of
$100.
His first year he drew tile, wood
and anything he could find. In 1928
he build a gravel box for his truck
and started drawing gravel for the
Twp. of Hullett. The first contract
was running and supplying the help
for the Hullett Twp. crusher at a rate
of 15 cents an hour for himself and
10 cents for his helpers.
In 1937 the concrete paving of
Hwy. 4 had moved north and George
moved north to Blyth to follow it. He
found work with Towland
Construction receiving a total of 90
cents per hour for himself and his
truck.
In 1939 he purchased his first new
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truck, a 1949 Fargo from Doherty
Bros., a local Blyth dealership, for a
total of $1200. That truck has since
been restored and can be seen atihe
company's shop and often in
parades.
In 1940, using Doherty Bros.
garage, he built his first crusher, all
build using oxygen and acetylene
welding and hacksaw cutting. His
first job was crushing gravel for
Grey .Twp. In a long day he could
crush 200' cubic yards. By
comparison, today's crushers can
process 250 yards per hour.
In 1941 he bought the building for
a total of $500 and the next year he
bought his first dragline and
bulldozer.
Increased travel brought demands
for better roads in the 1940s, '50s
and '60s and . George Radford
Construction Limited. (incorporated
in 1960) was well paced to take part
in the construction boom. The
company also supplied gravel for the
construction of the Douglas Point
Nuclear Power Plant.
George Radford died in 1981. The
company continues under the
leadership of his daughter Diane and
Doug Scrimgeour who George hired
as a young man straight out of high
school.
The construction boom died down
and while the company mains one
of the largest suppliers of aggregate
in the region, it has diversified its
operation into four separate
companies including a truck repair
business, a retail parts business and a
gas bar.
Every now and then, says David
Sparling, a piece of Blyth's history
surfaces in the pond on the Sparling
Propane property south of the
village.
Two ponds, Sparling's and one
near the Station House Bed and
Breakfast at the east end of Dinsley
Street are the only reminders of what
was once a thriving industry in
Blyth.
Both ponds are as a result of
excavations to mine the clay which
was used in the creation of brick and
drainage tile.
The pond on the farm of Dr. Ken
Jackson, off Dinsley St. in the east
end of the village was the first of the
businesses to go into operation,
being opened by William Moutray in
April of 1887. The clay excavated
from the pond there provided the
kind of "yellow" brick that has
become so identified with houses in
this part of Ontario.
The business was reported to be a
booming success with carloads of
yellow brick being shipped from the
nearby London, Huron and Bruce
railway station. According to Blyth:
A Village Portrait, many of the
yellow brick houses in Goderich
were built with brick from Blyth.
The Blyth correspondent to The
Clinton News-Record on May 11,
1892 reported: "Mr. W. Moutray,
proprietor of our brickyard has a
large staff of men this season. He
finds such a ready sale of his make of
brick that it is almost an
impossibility for him to supply the
demand."
In 1896 John Wilford and Adam
Wettlaufer purchased the brickyard
and one of their first major contracts
was to supply the brick for the new
Blyth public school.
Wettlaufer appears to have rub the
brickyard himself for the last few
years before his death in 1908. The
brickyard was rented by James
Heffron for a year but apparently the
business was unsuccessful and the
yard closed for good in 1909.
Brick and tilemaking was a
seasonal business but in the winter
the ponds provided both a skating
rink for local entertainment and a
source of ice for summer use to cool
food.
The area south of Blyth looked
much different than today back in
1896 when Jim Logan decided that
the clay on his farm could be used to
manufacturing clay and brick. What
is now County Rd. 4 did not exist,
with the highway following what is
now Cemetery Line, west of the
village. Only a narrow trail west of
what is now the Grand View
Restaurant, reached the excavation
point for the brickyard.
Continued on pagee 32.
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