The Belden Brick Company is an American manufacturer and distributor of brick and masonry-related construction products and materials. Its founder, Henry S. Belden, originally chartered the company in Canton, Ohio as the 'Diebold Fire Brick Company' in 1885 on the Belden farm.[1]
In the 1870s, Henry S. Belden, had a severe throat infection and moved to Belden with the hope that the open air would improve his health. On the farm, Henry discovered large deposits of coal, shale and clay. He built a small kiln to study the effects of firing temperatures on clay and shale.[citation needed]
In 1874, he invented the Belden burner, made of clay. He held a total of 13 patents for gasoline vapor street lights and secured a number of contracts for lighting cities and towns all across the United States.[2]
In 1876, Henry went to the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and saw the original mud-brick machine. He became inspired to make paving and fire brick. Henry’s paving brick was the first known use of paving brick in the city of Canton.[1]
The Diebold Fire Brick Company incorporated the Canton Pressed Brick Company as its successor company in 1895. The first annual meeting of the Canton Pressed Brick Company was held in 1896.[3]
In 1904, Paul Belden, Henry’s youngest son, returned to Canton to assist his father as the company was in dire financial straits.[3] In 1909, Paul Belden was authorized to obtain any capital needed to operate the business. Belden met with L. B. Hartung, a plumbing contractor in Canton, and persuaded Mr. Hartung to invest money in capital stock of the Canton Pressed Brick Company. L.B. Hartung became a shareholder, owning about 30% of the capital stock.[4]
By 1912, the company included operations in Canton and Perry County, Ohio, referred to as the Somerset Plant. Operations were consolidated under one company, The Belden Brick Company.[4] Between 1909 and 1920, the company acquired an additional brick making operation in Uhrichsville, OH, a majority interest in the Belden Face Brick Company (also founded by Henry Belden), and built two new kilns.[4]
The Belden-Stark Brick Company of Detroit was incorporated in 1930 as a joint venture of The Belden Brick Company and Stark Ceramics Inc. This was followed in June 1930 by the incorporation of The Belden-Stark Brick Corporation of New York.[5]
The company's sixth plant was built in Sugarcreek, OH in 1957.[7] In 1968, Plant 8 was built in Sugarcreek, OH and was the largest brick plant ever built under one roof.[7] In 1970, the first plant in Canton was closed down, and Belden brickmaking in Canton ceased while the corporate headquarters remained.[7] In 1973, The Belden Brick Company acquired the assets, properties and manufacturing facilities of the Moomaw Brothers at Sugarcreek, OH. The Shepfer-Moomaw plant was designated as plant No. 9. There were eight plants in operation that year.[7]
The Strasburg Brick Company was acquired in Strasburg, OH near the Sugarcreek facilities in 1974. The Belden Brick Company bought out the remaining interests of Stark Ceramics in the Detroit and New York sales operations and constructed its third plant in Sugarcreek, OH to produce molded brick with a Deboer molded brick machine.[citation needed]
In 1982, the Uhrichsville plant and its assets were sold to Stebbins Manufacturing.[8] In 1983, the Port Washington, OH Plant and itsassets were sold to Empire Coal.[9]
In 1994, The Belden Brick Company became the first brick company certified under ISO 9000.[10] Belden purchased Redland Brick Inc. in 1996, with plants in Williamsport, MD, Pittsburgh, PA, and Hartford, CT. Redland Brick continues operating as a wholly owned subsidiary.[9]
In 2000, another plant was built in Sugarcreek, OH, with a capacity of 45 million brick equivalents.[1] The same year, the Belden family was inducted into the Family Business Hall of Fame at Case Western Reserve's Weatherhead School of Management.[11]
Manufacturing plants
The Belden Brick Company manufactures brick (primarily for U.S. customers) at plants located in Sugarcreek, Ohio. Five of its plants specialize in extruded face brick, pavers, and split tile, while another plant manufactures thin brick and two others focus on sandmold hand formatics.[citation needed]
Tuscarawas County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 93,263. Its county seat is New Philadelphia. Its name is a Delaware Indian word variously translated as "old town" or "open mouth". Tuscarawas County comprises the New Philadelphia–Dover, OH Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Cleveland–Akron–Canton, OH Combined Statistical Area.
Malvern is a village in northwestern Carroll County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,110 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Canton–Massillon metropolitan area.
Canton is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio, United States. It is located approximately 60 miles (97 km) south of Cleveland and 20 miles (32 km) south of Akron in Northeast Ohio on the edge of Ohio's Amish Country. As of the 2020 census, the population of Canton was 70,872, making Canton eighth among Ohio cities in population. It is the largest municipality in the Canton–Massillon metropolitan area, which includes all of Stark and Carroll counties, and was home to 401,574 residents in 2020.
Massillon is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, approximately 8 miles (13 km) west of Canton, 20 miles (32 km) south of Akron, and 50 miles (80 km) south of Cleveland. The population was 32,146 at the 2020 census. Massillon is the second largest city within the Canton–Massillon metropolitan area, which includes all of Stark and Carroll counties and had a population of 401,574 in 2020.
Sugarcreek is a village in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,373 at the 2020 census. It is known as "The Little Switzerland of Ohio." Located in Ohio's Amish Country, the village is part of a large regional tourism industry. In the center of town stands one of the world's largest cuckoo clocks, which was previously featured on the cover of the Guinness World Records book in 1977.
Marysville is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Ohio, United States, approximately 27 miles (43 km) northwest of Columbus. The population was 25,571 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Columbus metropolitan area.
Diebold Nixdorf is an American multinational financial and retail technology company that specializes in the sale, manufacture, installation and service of self-service transaction systems, point-of-sale terminals, physical security products, and software and related services for global financial, retail, and commercial markets. Currently Diebold Nixdorf is headquartered in the Akron-Canton area with a presence in around 130 countries, and the company employs approximately 23,000 people. Founded in 1859 in Cincinnati, Ohio as the Diebold Bahmann Safe Company, the company eventually changed its name to Diebold Safe & Lock Company. In 1921, Diebold Safe & Lock Company sold the world's largest commercial bank vault to Detroit National Bank. Diebold has since branched into diverse markets, and is currently the largest provider of ATMs in the United States. Diebold Nixdorf was founded when Diebold Inc. acquired Germany's Wincor Nixdorf in 2016. It is estimated that Wincor Nixdorf controls about 35 percent of the global ATM market.
Republic Steel is an American steel manufacturer that was once the country's third largest steel producer. It was founded as the Republic Iron and Steel Company in Youngstown, Ohio in 1899. After rising to prominence during the early 20th Century, Republic suffered heavy economic losses and was eventually bought out before re-emerging in the early 2000s as a subsidiary. The company currently manufactures Special Bar Quality (SBQ) steel bars and employs around 2,000 people. It is currently owned by Grupo Simec, based in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Malley's Chocolates is a chain of candy stores in the Cleveland, Ohio area in the U.S., founded in the suburb of Lakewood. Four of the stores include ice cream parlors year-round.
Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA) is a public sector transit agency servicing Stark County, a county in Ohio containing Canton, Alliance, and Massillon. In addition to its regular line service within Stark County, SARTA runs one bus route between Canton and downtown Akron, connecting to Akron's METRO RTA bus system and also serving the Akron-Canton Regional Airport from both cities and one route to Cleveland starting March 4, 2013. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 1,371,600, or about 4,400 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.
Central Catholic High School is a private, Catholic coeducational diocesan high school in Perry Township, Ohio run by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown. Central began educating in 1946 when the Diocese merged the all-female Mount Marie Academy and the co-ed St. John High School. Although Central is a Catholic high school, it is open to non-Catholic students as well. This school is located in Perry Township, Stark County, Ohio and serves the west side of Canton, Ohio, and Western Stark County, including the City of Massillon, Ohio. Central Catholic's sports teams are nicknamed the "Crusaders".
Sugar Creek Township is one of the sixteen townships of Wayne County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 7,187 people in the township.
The Repository is an American daily local newspaper serving the Canton, Ohio area. It is currently owned by Gannett and is part of the USA TODAY Network.
The Alliance Clay Product Company District is a historic district in Alliance, Ohio, United States. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, it includes twelve contributing properties.
Belmont Glass Company, also known as the Belmont Glass Works, was one of Ohio's early glassmaking companies. It was named after Belmont County, Ohio, where the plant was located. The firm began operations in 1866 in a riverfront village along the east side of the county, which is known as Bellaire. At that time, the community had resource advantages that made it an attractive site for glassmaking. Bellaire's location at the intersection of the Ohio River, the National Road, and two railroads meant it had an excellent transportation infrastructure. Fuel necessary for the glassmaking process was also readily available, since Belmont County was part of the eastern Ohio coal region. Bellaire also had a workforce with glassmaking expertise located less than five miles away, since glass had been produced in Wheeling, West Virginia, since the 1820s.
The Times-Reporter is an American daily newspaper published seven mornings a week in New Philadelphia, Ohio. It is owned by Gannett.
Novelty Glass Company of Fostoria was one of over 70 glass manufacturing companies that operated in northwest Ohio during the region's brief Gas Boom in the late 19th century. The company made bar goods, stemware, and novelties. Organization of the firm began late in 1890, with banker Rawson Crocker as president and veteran glass man Henry Crimmel as plant manager. Production started in February 1891. The plant was built on the site of the former Buttler Art Glass Company, which had been destroyed by fire in 1889.
Charles "Carl" Diebold was a Kingdom of Bavaria-born American industrialist who was the founder of Diebold. Carl Diebold was also a safe maker and a locksmith.
Denny-Renton Clay and Coal Company, founded in 1892 as Denny Clay Company, was the largest producer of brick pavers in the world by 1905. An industry journal said in 1909 "The clay products of this company have long been a standard for general excellence in Seattle and the entire northwest" and described its products:
"Four great factories are operated by this big Seattle concern, one being devoted exclusively to the manufacture of sewer pipe, with a capacity of two miles of sewer pipe daily; one devoted exclusively to the manufacture of terra cotta; another, the Renton factory, manufactures paving brick of high quality, while the Taylor plant embraces the new sewer-pipe and hollow-ware, as well as the dry-press and fire-brick factories."
The Ridgewood Historic District is a residential neighborhood in Canton, Ohio. The neighborhood consists of preserved, architect-designed Revival style buildings built in the early 20th century with amenities such as original brick streets and locally produced street lighting standards. The District features homes designed by several distinguished architects, including Charles Firestone, Herman Albrecht, and Louis Hoicowitz. Due to its historic architectural significance, the District was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on December 19, 1982.
References
1 2 3 4 Frederic, Jim. "Belden Brick's Plant 2 Supplies A Variety Of Products For The Architectural Market". Brickyard Road. 7 (1). Pendleton, SC: Denis Brosnan: 8–12.
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