At the Carl Sandburg Historic Site, you can walk on Purington Pavers, when you visit. The sidewalk from the Visitor’s Center to The Barn is laid with recycled bricks manufactured in East Galesburg.

The land on which we live was once a sea of water. Many growing plants and animals eventually developed into clay and coal over millions of years.

It didn’t take long for the pioneer settlers to discover the blue shale and yellow clay which was suitable for making bricks. Henry Grosscup, a German stonemason, purchased ninety acres of land from the trustees of Knox College in 1849. He paid for the land by making bricks to be used in constructing Old Main and Whiting Hall.

The clay beds were as much as 65 feet deep and contained fine terracotta clay. This was used for manufacturing brick facing and ornamental brick and tile. Coal was also found and mined for local use.

David V. and William S. Purington established the Purington Brick Company in 1890. During the next few years the company bought the Pioneer Brick Company, Galesburg Brick Company, Galesburg Brick and Terra Cotta Company and the Galesburg Paving Brick Company.

At its high point, the Purington operation produced 300,000 bricks per day. The paving bricks were 4x4x8 inches in size. The production of the bricks was a long process of mixing, molding, stacking, drying, firing and cooling. Each brick weighed nine pounds.

Steam power was used to move the stacks of bricks from the yards to the kilns. The kilns were 100 feet long, 30 feet wide and were sunk 6 feet into the ground. Eventually, there were four yards with large numbers of kilns. They covered 300 acres of land.

The City of Galesburg laid the first of many pavers on Main Street between Kellogg and Seminary. They brought an end to the muddy and dusty streets of the city. Between 1890 and 1930 a total of sixty miles of brick streets were constructed. When a neighborhood street was prepared for brick paving, the residents came out to watch the work. They were amazed at how quickly the bricks could be placed on the sandy base.

By the 1920s brick production had begun to decline. The pavers were produced until 1949. The company switched to making small building bricks and finally closed for good in 1972.

Several hundred workers performed the heavy labor of producing, stacking, firing, cooling and shipping the bricks. It is said Carl Sandburg worked in the Purington yard for a short time. His frame was not of the type that had the strength to perform such hard work.