DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll let the story do the talking. About four and a half miles northwest of where you're rolling right now, something got started in 1891 that Texas, and eventually the whole country, would end up building itself with. We're talking about the original plant of the Acme Brick Company.
The first manufacturer in the entire state of Texas to make high grade pressed brick. Now that's a title worth holding onto. The man behind it was George Bennett, born in 1852, and the marker calls him an industrial pioneer; developer of coal mining and other natural resources.
That's the kind of résumé that makes a man start looking at the ground differently wherever he goes. And what he found when he looked near the Brazos River was exactly what he needed: large deposits of shale. Right here.
So this is where he planted his flag in 1891. A whole community grew up around that plant. They called it Bennett, naturally enough.
There was a dormitory for the workers, a store to keep them fed and outfitted, and those kilns burning hot with local fuel. First coal, then wood. And the brick that came rolling out of those kilns?
They left on mule-drawn wagons, or they caught a ride on the Texas and Pacific Railroad sitting nearby. Now George Bennett didn't live to see everything that followed. He passed in 1907.
But what he built kept right on growing. By the time Acme was approaching its 75th anniversary in 1966, it had become the largest maker of face brick in the entire United States. Not just Texas.
The whole country. Started beside the Brazos with a shale deposit and one man's eye for what the ground was worth.
What the marker says
(4.3 miles northwest) First manufacturer in Texas to make high grade pressed brick. Founded 1891 by industrial pioneer George Bennett (1852-1907), developer of coal mining and other natural resources. Located here because of large deposits of shale near Brazos River. Bennett community grew up around plant, with dormitory and store. The kilns were fired with local fuel; coal, then wood. Brick were shipped out by mule-drawn wagons or nearby Texas & Pacific Railroad. Before 75th anniversary in 1966, Acme became the largest maker of face brick in the United States. (1966)