Carnegie, California facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Carnegie
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Former settlement
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Black and white photo of Carnegie after 1905
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| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | San Joaquin County |
| Reference #: | 464 |
Carnegie was a small town in San Joaquin County, California. It existed for a short time, from 1902 to about 1915. This town was built around a factory that made bricks and pottery.
Contents
The Story of Carnegie
Carnegie was located in a place called Corral Hollow. Miners there were originally looking for coal. But they found something else very useful: a large amount of rich clay!
Building a Town from Clay
Two brothers, James and John Treadwell, owned gold mines. They realized this clay was valuable. In 1902, they started the Carnegie Brick and Pottery Company. They named it after Andrew Carnegie, a famous person known for giving money to good causes.
By 1904, a large factory was built. It was near the Alameda and San Joaquin Railroad line. This factory made bricks and fancy architectural pieces called terra cotta. A town grew up around the factory, with over 300 people living there. Many of them were skilled Italian workers. The factory was very busy, making more than 100,000 bricks every day! Later, a plant to make sewer pipes was also built nearby.
The End of Carnegie
In 1911, a big flood hit the area. It destroyed bridges, roads, and many buildings. The company could not afford to rebuild everything. Because of this, the towns of Carnegie and a nearby town called Tesla were abandoned.
The railroad line that connected to Carnegie was also closed in 1916. Later that year, the Carnegie company was sold to another company called Gladding, McBean. The new owners wanted to reduce competition. They sold off the factory's machines. They also destroyed what was left of the town's buildings. On May 27, 1917, the tall smokestacks at the plant were blown up with dynamite.
Carnegie's Legacy Today
Today, you can still see the foundations of the old brick factory. They are located within the Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area. Even though the town is gone, materials from the Carnegie Brick and Pottery Company were used in important buildings. These include the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the Oakland Hotel. Bricks from Carnegie were also used for the Carnegie libraries in Livermore and Lodi, California. The place where the town once stood is now recognized as a California Historical Landmark.
