Recall the Toronto skyline a century ago. It was dotted with brickworks chimneys. Today only one remains that is Valley Brickworks Smokestack.
The Valley Brickworks Smokestack stands as a proud reminder of Toronto’s industrial past. The Don Valley Brick Works, now known as the Evergreen Brick Works, operated for almost 100 years. It provided bricks for many famous Toronto buildings. Casa Loma, Osgoode Hall, Massey Hall and the Ontario Legislature all used bricks from here.
The Taylor brothers created the Don Valley Brick Works in 1889. William Taylor discovered high-quality clay while digging fence post holes. He took a sample to a local brick works. They confirmed it would make excellent bricks. Soon, a quarry and brick plant were established.
The Don Valley Pressed Brick Company used three techniques. The soft-mud process mixed clay with water from Mud Creek. The mixture was placed in molds then dried and baked in kilns. Dry-press bricks used quarried shale. The shale was placed into molds and machine pressed. The stiff-mud process mixed clay and shale with less water. A wire cut a column of clay forced through a die. The bricks were shipped by cart along Pottery Road or by rail. The bricks were mostly used in Toronto but also across the continent. The bricks were so good they won prizes. They won at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 and the Toronto Industrial Fair in 1894.
In 1893, the company added a continuous down-draft kiln. This increased the quality and amount of bricks produced. By 1907, the company had two kilns. They produced between 85000 and 100000 bricks per day. After the 1904 fire destroyed much of downtown Toronto, the Brick Works supplied brick for construction.
Robert Davies bought the company in 1909 and renamed it Don Valley Brick Company Limited. In the 1920s, a major expansion led to the name Don Valley Brick Works Limited. Electricity was added. A new sand-lime plant created cheaper bricks for interiors. In 1928, Strathgowan Investments bought the company and renamed it Toronto Brick Company. The company reached peak production then. It produced about 25 million bricks per year.
During the Great Depression, many indigent men camped south of the Brick Works. They built shanties. Toronto residents helped them. During the winters, the men slept inside the Brick Works kilns.
During World War II, production decreased. German prisoners of war housed at Todmorden Mills worked at the plant. After the war, a building boom increased demand. A fire destroyed the sand-lime plant in 1946. The plant consolidated outbuildings. Three of the four signature chimneys were knocked down.
United Ceramics Limited of Germany acquired the Brick Works in 1956. A new sand-lime plant was built. A Parkhill Martin Brick machine was moved here. It produced soft-mud bricks for the antique market. By the 1980s, most of the clay and shale had been quarried.
The city acquired the land for conservation in 1987. Brampton Brick leased the site. They operated a retail outlet until 1991. Filling the quarry began in the late 1940s. It was used as a city dump for years.
Restoration began in 1994. The quarry was filled using material from the Scotia Plaza excavation. The site was landscaped to create three ponds. Water was diverted from Mud Creek. The Weston Family Quarry Garden officially opened in 1997.
Today, the Valley Brickworks Smokestack is the only remaining chimney. It serves as a monument to Toronto’s industrial heritage. It stands tall amidst a revitalized green space. It represents the city’s transformation.