The keynote of the history of Hydraulic Press Brick Company, as well as its future, is sounded by Sir Charles Lytell's, Antiquity of Man .
Granite disintegrates and crumbles into particles of mica, quartz and feldspar.
Marble soon molders into dust of carbonate of lime, but hard, well burnt clay endures forever in the ancient landmarks of mankind. The founder of the Company, Mr. E. C. Sterling, developed the concept of molding dry clay with a hydraulic press. Mr. Sterling overcame many obstacles as earlier attempts to utilize a dry clay manufacturing technique in the East had proven unsuccessful. He established his first operation in Memphis. In 1864, after the disruption of the Civil War, he relocated to St. Louis.