Denny-Renton Clay and Coal Company

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."

— Brick, 1909[2]
Denny-Renton Clay and Coal Company
IndustryManufacturing
PredecessorPuget Sound Fire Clay Company, Denny Clay Company, Renton Brick Works
SuccessorGladding, McBean
Founded1892 in Seattle, Washington
FounderArthur A. Denny
Defunct1927 (1927)
Area served
Pacific Northwest
ProductsBrick, pipe, terra cotta
Number of employees
950 (1912[1])

The factory in Taylor, Washington, was near heavy glacial clay deposits in an 80-foot (24 m) high bank used to make the brick, and could produce 100,000 bricks a day in 1907.[3] Hydraulic mining was used to extract clay from the hill.[4] The factory produced 58 million bricks in 1917.[5] It was closed when Taylor was condemned to become part of Seattle's Cedar River watershed in 1947.[1][6][7]

History

The company was founded by Seattle founder Arthur A. Denny in 1892 when he bought out predecessor company Puget Sound Fire Clay Company and named it Denny Clay Company. His son Orion O. Denny, who was the first baby boy born to the settlers of Seattle, became a vice-president of the company and president in 1899 when Arthur died.[8] It merged with Renton Brick Works and was renamed Denny-Renton Clay and Coal Company. The company was bought by Gladding, McBean in 1927 and ceased to exist as a separate operation.[9]

Legacy in Seattle architecture
Terra cotta decorative element from the White-Henry-Stuart buildings in Downtown Seattle

Ornamental terra cotta from the Renton factory and other local factories is found in unusual abundance in buildings in Downtown Seattle, exemplified by the 1916 Arctic Building, and the University of Washington buildings designed by Bebb and Gould.[10][11] The Indian head decoration on the Cobb Building and the Henry-White-Stuart buildings (now demolished) may have used Denny-Renton terra cotta.[12][13]

Renton brickworks today
Foundations of the Renton brickworks

The location of the former Renton brickworks (47.479°N 122.198°W / 47.479; -122.198) is now a dog park in Renton on the Cedar River Trail, near its crossing with I-405.[14]

References
  1. Aldredge & Booth 1986, p. 4.
  2. "A growing Seattle enterprise", Brick, 31, p. 194, November 1909
  3. "The paving brick industry at Puget Sound", Brick, 27, p. 33, July 1907
  4. Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Company exterior showing workers at brick clay bed, Renton, n.d. (Stereoscopic photograph), Renton History Museum photographs, University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections, 2617
  5. Eastside Heritage Center 2006, p. 97.
  6. James Elliott (July 1996), "Green River Valley Clay Becomes Architectural Terra Cotta: Meade Pottery & the Northern Clay Company 1905 to 1927", White River Journal, White River Valley Museum
  7. Tim Nyhus (2012), "Taylor", Ghost Towns of Washington (website)
  8. Alan J. Stein (November 24, 2002), Denny, Orion O. (1853-1916), HistoryLink
  9. "Gladding, McBean & Co., and Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Co., Consolidate", Brick and Clay Record, Windsor and Kenfield, 70, p. 459, 1927
  10. Robert S. Purser (March 2, 1998), "Can Seattle's terra cotta legacy endure?", Puget Sound Business Journal
  11. Crowley 1998, p. 95.
  12. Walt Crowley and Paul Dorpat (1998), National Trust Guide Seattle: America's Guide for Architecture and History Travelers, John Wiley & Sons, p. 95CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  13. Walt Crowley (July 27, 2006), Seattle's Cobb Building is dedicated on September 14, 1910, HistoryLink
  14. "History Lives Here" Walking Tour Centennial Markers: Renton Clay Works, City of Renton, archived from the original on 2016-10-21, retrieved 2016-11-29

Bibliography

  • Eastside Heritage Center (2006). "Lakeside Commerce". Lake Washington, the East Side. Images of America. San Francisco, CA: Arcadia Pub. pp. 93–110. ISBN 0-7385-3106-5.
  • E. Eggleston Smith (1911), Coals of the State of Washington, U.S. Geological Survey, p. 89, Bulletin 474
  • Aldredge, Lydia S.; Booth, T. William (1986), Impressions of imagination: terra-cotta Seattle, Allied Arts of Seattle
  • Crowley, Walt (1998), National Trust Guide Seattle: America's Guide for Architecture and History Travelers, Wiley, ISBN 9780471180449
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