St. Joe Brick Works History

Peter W. Schneider acquired a small hand-operated plant in 1891. St. Joe Brick Works, Inc. has been under continuous family operations for 106 years. This plant located 40 miles north of New Orleans is the oldest family brick manufacturers east of the Mississippi River making colonial moulded face brick using wood moulds.

     St. Joe Brick Works, Inc. is one of only a very few brick plants that uses the soft-mud process of making brick in which the clay is formed into individual bricks in a wooden mould as was done in the early colonial period. It is so unique in its color and texture characteristics that architects have specified its use in many areas as distant as Massachusetts, New York, Northern Michigan, and Minnesota. It has been used extensively by the Bell Telephone System, Rice University of Houston, and Texas Instruments of Dallas. Many churches and architectually designed structures have been constructed with this material because of its characteristic aging qualities, although more modern buildings such as the Savannah Hilton in Georgia, The Hockaday School, Pan American University, St. Luke's of Houston, Broward Mental Hospital, of Hallendale, Florida, the Heyman Oil Center in Lafayette, Louisiana, and the Botantical Gardens at Atlanta.

     We continue today to make what we always have, a good honest brick, full in dimension and character, no coatings to hide our naturally beautiful rich shades of color, no holes that would keep our brick from being truly versatile, as a brick should be. St. Joe Brick Works, Inc. woodmoulds can be used for both exterior and interior pavers, and for walls with character in any architectual scheme. They have been appreciated and used by each generation of architects for over a century. The much sought after New Orleans "Hard Tan" and "Soft Red" Used Brick coming from demolished structures in New Orleans today were originally manufactured at St. Joe Brick Works, Inc. and other St. Tammany Parish brick yards in existence before and after the turn of the century.

     We plan to continue to serve the construction industry in the southeast at the turn of the next century.