Martin Rushfeldt could have been a fisherman in northern Norway or a farmer in Freeborn County.

Saturday, March 09, 2002

Martin Rushfeldt could have been a fisherman in northern Norway or a farmer in Freeborn County. Instead he became a maker of bricks. And it’s those bricks from the plants he once owned which are still a very visible part of the exterior of many buildings and even several homes in Albert Lea.

He was born on Oct. 18, 1851, in Vatso, Norway. His father was a fisherman and also a teacher in the village school. In 1865, the family emigrated to the U.S. and came directly to Albert Lea. The Rushfeldts settled on a farm near the present site of the Brookside School.

Martin worked on his father’s farm for two years, then went to work at a brick yard on the city’s southside. He combined employment in the brick yard with helping farmers in the area until 1874.

Brick making was one of the area’s first industries. This came about for two reasons. First, wood for building cabins and homes in the prairie lands was somewhat scarce. Second, there was an abundance of clay in certain places around Albert Lea. This clay could be formed into bricks and hardened in kilns (large ovens) with heat for strength. Also, brick was a fairly inexpensive building material which could be used to give structures a more permanent character.

According to one historical account, C. W. Waltrous was the city’s first brick maker. He used clay from a location near the corner of what’s now Frank Hall Avenue and East Sixth Street to make the material for the city’s first home constructed of brick in 1857.

In 1867, C. H. Dillingham started a brick yard near the corner of what’s now Third Street and James Avenue. Mathews and Gordon took over this business a few years later and by 1875 were producing 100,000 bricks a year.

Still another brick yard was located across from the present Freeborn County Fairgrounds which was then known as the Spicer Farm.

In 1874 Rushfeldt made two important decisions. One was to marry Amelia Fixen who was born on Aug. 18, 1856, in Vatso, Norway, and came to the U.S. in 1868. They came from the same town in Norway and may have been childhood friends before coming to the U.S. with their parents. The other decision was to go into the brick making business with his own firm.

Martin operated a clay mine or quarry and kiln operation of his father’s farm for about four years. However, the distance from the center of Albert Lea and the railroad became a handicap. Thus, in 1878, he decided to take over a two-acre site on the city’s south side then owned by Thomas McCormick, who was later one of the prime contractors for the construction of the Freeborn County Courthouse.

Rushfeldt soon expanded his new Albert Lea Brick Yard to about 20 acres. One Tribune news report said his clay mine or quarry and kiln operation was based on an area from James to South Broadway Avenues and Fourth Street south to the railroad tracks. The 1902 city directory lists the plant’s location as 921 S. Broadway Ave.

Besides making bricks for constructing buildings and homes, plus street paving, the Albert Lea Brick Yard also made clay tile for use in farm field drainage.

The south side location near the railroad tracks provided transportation for the shipment of bricks and tiles to other locations, plus the receiving of coal needed for the operation of the kilns, or ovens, for the baking of the bricks and tiles.

In 1889, Rushfeldt expanded his operations by becoming an active partner in a new brick making plant at Carlton, Minn., located south of Cloquet and west of Duluth. Within a few years another plant was opened in nearby Wrenshall, Minn., a town which could have been started because of Martin’s actions. Rushfeldt held an interest in these plants, plus several others in the Duluth area for many years.

In 1894, William A. Morin started another local brick making firm which may have been near the present location of St. John’s Lutheran Home. His firm became known as Morin Brick and Tile Co. and was based on what was described as a bed of pure blue clay over 40 feet in depth.

On January 1905, the Morin firm and Rushfeldt’s Albert lea Brick Yard were merged. The new firm became known as the Albert Lea Brick and Tile Co. Operations of the brick plant on the city’s south side ceased that fall and production started at a new site in what’s now the Sunny Side Addition between Dane Lake and St. John’s Lutheran Home and close to the railroad tracks.

There’s an indication the clay beds at the south side location were diminishing. A decision was made to cover the former clay quarry sites and prepare the land for residential development.

This newer plant on the city’s northwest side resulted in this commentary by local historian L. W. Spicer:

“At one time 10 kilns were in constant use, each having the capacity of 70,000 brick or 27,000 tile every 11 days, the time required for processing. Three engines were in use and the plant gave employment to 50 persons. 7,500 tons of coal were consumed annually. The plant changed management and sometime later it was closed and the machinery sold.”

The closing of this plant by 1911 is confirmed by a notation on page 297 of the book, “History of Freeborn County,” by Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge.

Rushfeldt continued on with the operation of his plant at Wrenshall, near Duluth, for a few more years. He died in Albert Lea on July 7, 1933.

(Note: The name of Rushfeldt has been spelled Rusfeldt in older copies of the city directory and some historical articles.)