Pierre-Nicolas “Peter” Remillard
Pierre-Nicolas “Peter” Remillard was born April 2, 1837, at St. Valentin, Quebec. [1] In 1854 he came to California as an aspiring and self-reliant seventeen-year-old. He became involved in gold mining and saved what was later described in his obituary as a “snug sum” of money.
In 1861, at the age of twenty-four, he moved to Oakland, where he became an employee of a brickyard. Within five years, he rose from hired hand at the brickyard to its owner and opened an office and yard at Clay and 2nd Streets and a brick plant in nearby Brooklyn. His brothers Hilaire and Edward also came from Quebec to join him in the enterprise. The business expanded and, in 1879, was incorporated as Remillard Brick Company. For a number of years, the Remillard brothers provided contracting service to the building trade in addition to manufacturing bricks. In 1882, the company established a large yard at Pleasanton.
The Remillards supplied bricks for many important buildings including the old Palace Hotel in San Francisco and many large and important buildings in Oakland. For some forty years the Remillards were the only brick manufacturing company in Alameda County, supplied material for nearly every brick building in the county, and held a near monopoly on supplying bricks to the Western United States and Pacific Islands. In 1890, a yard was established at Greenbrae in Marin County and two years later in 1892, the Remillards established a yard that employed over 300 men at San Jose, Santa Clara County.
Pierre-Nicolas Remillard married Cordule Laurin in January 1867 in San Francisco. They lived in the Ashworth-Remillard House, a National Register of Historic Places. He died suddenly on August 3, 1904, at his home on Adams and Perkins Street in Oakland, California from a heart attack. Although he had been in poor health for the previous year, he was able to go to his office until about three months before his death. Pierre Remillard was one of the founders of the First Unitarian Church of Oakland and one of the first members of the Athenian Club. [2]
Pierre Remillard's blue Eastlake frame home is in Preservation Park, at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and 13th Street in Oakland. [3] Remillard Park in Berkeley was named for him in 1964 after the land for part of the park was donated by his daughter, Countess Lillian Remillard Dandini. [4]
Remillard Brick Company
| Green Brae kiln Remillard Brick Company | |
|---|---|
 Remillard Brick Company in 1901 | |
| Location | 125 E Sir Francis Drake Blvd, Larkspur, California |
| Coordinates | 37°56′39″N122°30′20″W / 37.9443°N 122.5056°W |
| Built | 1865 |
| Reference no. | 917 |
  Location of Green Brae kiln Remillard Brick Company in California  Remillard Brothers (the United States) | |
The Remillard Brick Company was the largest brick manufacturer on the Pacific coast. The Remillard Brick Company opened brickyards in San Francisco Bay area:
- East Oakland Remillard Brickyard, opened in 1864
- Pleasanton Remillard Brickyard
- San Jose Remillard Brickyard (1891-1968)
- Greenbrae Rillard Brickyard ran for 103 years on the San Quentin Peninsula.
The Greenbrae Remillard Brickyard's Green Brae kiln is a California Historical Landmark No. 917. The remains of the Greenbrae kiln are between San Quentin and the Larkspur ferry landing. The Greenbrae kiln has been converted into an upscale restaurant. The Greenbrae Remillard bricks were used to build Ghirardelli Square, the Palace Hotel, and many other San Francisco buildings the 1906 earthquake and fire. Edward Remillard invented some improvements in brickmaking and has United States patents for some of these brick these improvements. Peter Remillard also make improvements in brick making. Cordule and Lillian, Peter's daughter ran the company after Peter Remillard died in 1904. In addition to bricks Remillard Brick Company also made and sold cement, lime, cleaned sand and plaster. [5] [6]
