Olive Hill Fire Brick   Carter County, KY

     In my years of collecting coal scrip and tokens, I have been actively seeking pieces from the Olive Hill Fire Brick Company.  Although there were several coal mines in operation locally, only a couple were commercial enterprises.  Therefore there was a scarcity of coal scrip produced.  Currently not listed in the Edkins  book  as  coal  scrip,  I  have found proof that the Olive Hill Fire Brick Company owned at least one coal mine, if not more.

      J.J. Hoblitzell, E.S. Hitchins, and George H. Parks, three men who had been involved in mining and refractories in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia, built the first plant at Olive Hill.  In 1895, Olive Hill Fire Brick was formed.  The plant was started May 1, and as it was the first built in the interior of Kentucky, there was much doubt as to the possibility of success of the venture.  Olive Hill had an abundance of flint or hard fireclay, but plastic or bonding clays were not in evidence.  In fact, the first kiln of brick almost proved a tragedy for the new company.  A local plastic clay that was used proved worthless. The first brick were used in the foundation of new kilns or thrown over the bank.  A plastic clay from the Saulsberry farm at Aden, Ky., proved satisfactory.

     One laborer that started working in the plant, acted as boiler engineer, making electricity for the plant and town.  Coal for energy came by rail from Moore Branch, one or two 50 ton cars a week. There were several small mines that operated in the county in the late 1800’s.  In the early 1900’s, Olive Hill Fire Brick opened a No. 6 seam for use in its own plants.  At Lost Creek, eight men with two mules brought out the coal.  The Olive Hill Fire Brick Company eventually became General Refractories, probably around 1913.  There is scrip listed for the General Refractories Co.

     Since discovering that in the late 1920’s, my grandfather, C.A. Cline, worked for this company, the scrip and tokens have become even more fascinating to me.  After showing the powers that be in the scrip club the documentation that the Olive Hill Fire Brick Company owned a coal mine, they said that this company should definitely be listed as scrip.  In Gordon Dodrill’s book, 20,000 Coal Company Stores,  the  Olive  Hill  Fire  Brick Company is not listed, but interestingly enough, a picture of a piece of it is shown on page 183.  This company had parallel pieces made in both brass and aluminum.

 *Almost all the information concerning the Olive Hill Fire Brick Co., Inc., came from the book Carter County  A Pictorial History, by George Wolfford, 1985.

Garrett Salyers, submitted 2/07