The Plant Behind Bricktown

Harbison-Walker Refractories

Mount Union · West End of Shirley Street

An Industrial Landmark, Preserved in Photographs

Harbison-Walker’s Mount Union works helped make the community an international center of refractory-brick production. The Historic American Engineering Record documented the surviving complex, engine repair house, kiln, molding room, packing shed, rotary dryer and storage silos. This page presents the complete twenty-image Library of Congress record.

Color view of Harbison-Walker Number 2 kilns in Mount Union
Harbison-Walker No. 2 kilns. Library of Congress, HAER PA-242. Select any photograph to open the larger image.
1899
Original W. H. Haws Plant Began
1902
Purchased by Harbison-Walker
29
Kilns Operating by 1909–10
20
HAER Images Preserved Here
The Brick Works

The Complete Plant Complex

The main HAER survey records the arrangement and condition of the plant from several directions, including the kiln stacks, overhead conveyor and broader industrial landscape.

Harbison-Walker plant complex looking north
Plant complex looking north
Harbison-Walker plant complex looking northeast
Plant complex looking northeast
Harbison-Walker plant complex looking east
Plant complex looking east
Harbison-Walker plant complex looking southeast
Plant complex looking southeast
Harbison-Walker plant viewed from the elevator building
View from the elevator building
Harbison-Walker plant complex looking west
Plant complex looking west
Harbison-Walker kiln stacks looking north
Kiln stacks looking north
General view of Harbison-Walker looking north
General view looking north
Collapsed overhead conveyor at the Harbison-Walker plant
Collapsed overhead conveyor
Maintenance and Power

The Engine Repair House

The repair house supported the locomotives and machinery that moved raw ganister, fuel and finished refractory products through the works.

Color view of the Harbison-Walker engine repair house
Engine repair house, color view
Harbison-Walker engine repair house
Engine repair house
South side and west end of the Harbison-Walker engine repair house
South side and west end
East end of the Harbison-Walker engine repair house
East end of the repair house
Interior of the Harbison-Walker engine repair house looking east
Repair-house interior looking east
Making and Moving Brick

Specialized Production Buildings

Separate HAER records document four important parts of the manufacturing system: a kiln, the molding room, the packing shed, and the rotary dryer with its storage silos.

Harbison-Walker refractory kiln
Refractory kiln · HAER PA-242-B
Harbison-Walker molding room
Molding room · HAER PA-242-C
Harbison-Walker packing shed
Packing shed · HAER PA-242-D
Harbison-Walker rotary dryer and storage silos
Rotary dryer and storage silos
Second view of the Harbison-Walker rotary dryer and storage silos
Rotary dryer and silos, second view · HAER PA-242-E
About the photographs: These twenty images comprise the complete photograph set displayed across the Mount Union Harbison-Walker HAER survey and its five related building surveys. The Library of Congress rights advisory states that there are no known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; copied-source images may be restricted. Credit: Library of Congress, Historic American Engineering Record.

Continue the Bricktown Story

Read how the plant, quarries, Ganister Hill, railroads and workforce shaped the community on Bricktown USA, or compare the planned worker village across the Juniata on the Kistler location page.

Library of Congress Survey Records

  1. Harbison-Walker Refractories Company, HAER PA-242.
  2. Engine Repair House, HAER PA-242-A.
  3. Kiln, HAER PA-242-B.
  4. Molding Room, HAER PA-242-C.
  5. Packing Shed, HAER PA-242-D.
  6. Rotary Dryer and Storage Silos, HAER PA-242-E.