DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Back in 1882, about a mile and a half northeast of where you're sitting right now, a local planter by the name of H. M.
Morrison decided Athens needed a factory. Not just any factory. The first factory.
And what was he going to make? Building brick. Now, if you're picturing some grand industrial operation, hold on a moment, because the total original machinery consisted of exactly two pieces.
A press and a plunger. That's it. The press was hand-operated.
And the plunger? That was powered by a mule walking a swivel in a circle, mixing up clay dug right there at the plant site. A man, a mule, and two machines.
That's how Athens entered the industrial age. Then in 1891, a man named C. H.
Coleman bought into the firm. He and Morrison worked that operation together until Morrison's death in 1899, at which point Coleman became the sole owner. Coleman brick.
That name was going to stick around a good while longer. Long enough, in fact, that when Harbison-Walker Refractories Company bought the business in 1940, they kept right on making Coleman brick, kept right on enriching the local economy, until they finally closed up in 1968. When Harbison-Walker shut the doors, they didn't just haul everything off.
That old press and that old plunger, the very same two machines that started it all back in 1882, those were given as a permanent loan to the city of Athens. Some stories end. Some stories just find a new place to stand.
What the marker says
Established 1882 (at site 1.5 mi. NE) by local planter H. M. Morrison, to make building brick. Total original machinery consisted of this press and plunger. Press was hand-operated. A mule-drawn swivel ran the plunger, mixing clay dug at the plant site. C. H. Coleman bought into firm in 1891; after Morrison's death in 1899 he became sole owner. Harbison-Walker Refractories Company bought business in 1940; continued making Coleman brick and enriching economy until closing in 1968. These machines are a permanent loan to city of Athens from Harbison-Walker.