Draft:Patton Clay Manufacturing Company

The Patton Clay Manufacturing Company of Patton, Pennsylvania, was a major producer of terracotta, brick, and other clay products that operated from 1895 to 1968.

Founded in 1895, under the leadership of George S. Good and George Engle Prindible, according to Dun & Bradstreet, the company became the world's largest clay product manufacturer.

The company's facilities, which extended over 40 acres in the Patton, Pennsylvania borough boundaries, operated until 1968.

Facilities
The facilities of the "clay works" occupied 40 acres in the northern part of Patton, Pennsylvania along what was to become "Terra Cotta Avenue" with the factory floor being over 170,000 square feet.

The initial construction of the plant buildings was nearly complete when, on the night of December 27, 1896, a fire completely destroyed the plant buildings, which had already been equipped with the necessary machinery. .

Patton Clay Manufacturing operated its own coal and clay mines from its inception until its closure in 1968.

Company history
The Patton Clay Manufacturing Company was founded in 1895 to provide terracotta products and bricks for the booming building industries of the late 1800s with the expansion of the railroad and steel industries. The "Clay Works" had easy access to high-quality clay and shale and easy transportation of products across the eastern and Mid-Atlantic states provided by the New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroads.

The first brick was produced on March 10, 1896 and from there the company grew rapidly and was, by 1909, a leading producer of terracotta products such as hollow block, sewer pipe, bricks, brick pavers, and, with engineers such as J.H. Moren, patented many innovations in the production of clay products. The Patton Clay Manufacturing factory in Patton had an annual capacity of 4,000 train carloads of pipe and 25,000,000 bricks. In 1909, The Patton Clay Manufacturing factory at Lumber City, Pennsylvania was producing 10,000,000 bricks per annum and by 1933, it was producing 35,000,000 bricks per year.

The company was at its height from 1900 to 1930, under the long-term leadership of general manager George E. Prindible and founder George S. Good, who had overseen the expansion of the works into one of the largest producers of clay products in the United States, shipping products as far as the Philippines.

1934 - employed 415 men and women

In 1960, the company was acquired by Dr. Richard Murray and while actions by the union workers and a bond sale to the people of Patton, The plant closed on April 26, 1965.
 * On September 21st, 1967, The Patton Clay Manufacturing Company, having been idle for several months, was sold to Penn Refractories of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. The company operated until 1968 when the company was forced to close the coal mine providing the fuel to fire the kilns.

Patton Paver

 * Pavers and sewer pipe were shipped for U.S. Military construction in the Philippines.
 * Soldiers returning from service in WWII reported seeing Patton Pavers in areas around the Eiffel Tower.
 * Pavers and sewer pipe were shipping to be used in the construction of the Panama Canal.
 * Patton Pavers were donated to the Flight 93 National Memorial where they are used in the pathways leading to various parts of the memorial including the chapel.