Elgin-Butler Brick Company drawings
Scope and Content of the collection
Approximately 660 sheets of drawings of projects for which Elgin-Butler Brick Company supplied brick materials from 1959-1980 reveal the company's varied brick designs and diversity of clients.
Dates
- Creation: 1959-1980
Creator
- Elgin-Butler Brick Company (contributor, Organization)
Policies Governing Use and Access
This collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using archival materials. As all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site, advance notice of at least three working days is required for retrieval. Certain items may require additional time for flattening or humidifying before they can be viewed. Access is by appointment only. Please contact the archives' reference staff for further information.
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasions of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person).
The Alexander Architectural Archives operate in accordance with applicable federal or state laws and regulations, providing unrestricted access to university records not covered by state and federal right to privacy acts.
The Alexander Architectural Archives, The University of Texas Libraries, and The University of Texas at Austin, assume no responsibility for infringement of literary property rights and copyright or for liability to any person for defamation or invasion of privacy that results from a researcher's use of collections.
Researchers agree to indemnify and hold harmless The University of Texas at Austin, and their officers, employees, and agents from and against all suits, claims, actions, and expenses arising out of use of collections held by the libraries. Please alert staff if anything inappropriate is found during research.
Copyright interests in this collection may not have been transferred to the University of Texas. Researchers assume full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply. Additionally, the public use of material must be cited. See citation information below.
Administrative History of Elgin-Butler Brick Company
"The Elgin-Butler Brick Company, with central operations at a 1,000-acre site in Butler, five miles east of Elgin, and sales headquarters in Austin, is a fifth-generation family-owned business that ships bricks nationwide and internationally. In 1871 the Texas and New Orleans Railroad arrived at the site in Bastrop County, and the community that grew up came to be known as Butler, after an Irish immigrant bricklayer, Michael Butler, who was the first to make bricks from the nearby clay pits that he discovered by accident while digging holes on land then used for timber. The company was founded in 1873. Over the years Butler became a company town with a company store and brick houses for employees, who farmed on the side. By the 1940s the town population reached 150. The company also mined clay from a site now in the Zilker Park soccer fields in Austin and transported it in buckets, hung from mule-drawn lines, to kilns on the site of present Austin High School. Another plant was located farther down the lake at the site of the Zachary Scott Theatre. In 1912 the firm acquired the Austin Brick Company, and in 1965 it acquired its chief competitor, Elgin Standard Brick Company. The company supplied bricks for the Capitol, 80 percent of the brick structures at the University of Texas at Austin, fireplaces in many Austin residences, and many other brick buildings in Austin. Brick from the firm was also used for the façade of the United States Embassy in Mexico City.
"In 1990 the company began using automation to mix the clay with water and to compress and extrude it into molds before baking. The company is noted for its innovative brick designs, produced to appeal to people living in different regions. In operating the firm, Butler was succeeded by members of his family, including a son who studied ceramic engineering at Ohio State University. In the 1990s Elgin-Butler employed 411 workers. At that time 15 percent of its business was from the Austin area and 30 percent from outside Texas. Sales in 1993 amounted to $18 million."
Source: "ELGIN-BUTLER BRICK COMPANY." The Handbook of Texas Online.
https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/elgin-butler-brick-company
[Accessed Thu Aug 29 10:28:17 US/Central 2002, updated October 4, 2021].
Partial Extent
660 drawings
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Elgin-Butler Brick Company, with central operations at a 1,000-acre site in Butler, five miles east of Elgin, and sales headquarters in Austin, is a fifth-generation family-owned business that ships bricks nationwide and internationally. The collection contains architectural drawings for projects supplied with brick materials from the Elgin-Butler Brick Company between 1959 and 1980.
Other Finding Aids
The Excel spreadsheet inventory of drawings within the Elgin-Butler Brick Company drawings collections is available here.
Collection Processors
Materials processed by Adina Radu, Fall 2002.
Subject
- Austin Brick Company (contributor, Organization)
- Elgin-Butler Brick Company (contributor, Organization)
- Elgin Standard Brick Company (contributor, Organization)
- Title
- Elgin-Butler Brick Company drawings
- Date
- 2003
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Alexander Architectural Archives Repository
University of Texas Libraries
101 E. 21st Street
Austin Texas 78712 United States
(512) 495-4621
apl-aaa@lib.utexas.edu