{"nrhp_refnum":"02000338","name":"Cherokee Brick and Tile Company","other_names":["Cherokee Brick Company"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"3250 Waterville Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Macon","county":"Bibb County","state":"GA","lat":32.773265462500035,"lon":-83.60366186456793,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-04-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Engineering","Industry"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 4,000-acre industrial historic district at 3250 Waterville Road, Macon, Bibb County, Georgia, containing a brick and tile manufacturing plant, clay mines, rail lines and related structures. The company established its plant at this location in 1904, with clay mining dating from the 1870s.","why_significant":"The district documents the entire brick-making process, from clay mining and rail transport to manufacture and shipping. Its buildings, mines, railroad corridor and bridge show how the company expanded and mechanized over the 20th century. Its bricks were used in major regional projects, including the Wesleyan College campus at Rivoli in the 1920s.","narrative":"Cherokee Brick and Tile Company is a 4,000-acre industrial district in Macon, Georgia, that preserves every stage of brick production, from clay pits to finished product. A rail yard divides it: the manufacturing plant lies to the west and the clay mines and reserves to the east, near the Ocmulgee River. The plant's main buildings are the combined Plant Nos. 1 and 2, begun in 1904 and expanded repeatedly, and Plant No. 3, built in 1947-1949. A 1926 gambrel-roofed clay storage building feeds both through overhead conveyors. Smaller resources include a 1925 garage, a 1949 office, a laboratory dating to about 1904, and brickyard sheds. The mines range from hand-dug furrows of the 1870s to large mechanized pits, linked to the plant by roads, rail beds and a 1928 plate-girder turntable bridge over the river. The district is notable for showing how a single company grew and modernized over a century, supplying bricks for regional landmarks such as Wesleyan College's campus.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Stephens-Adamson Company (clay storage building plans); Allied Engineering Division of Ferro Enamel Corporation (Plant No. 3 plans); Golian Steel & Iron Company (Plant No. 3 construction); W. T. Johnstone; W. Elliott Dunwody; Virginia Bridge & Iron Company (bridge)","architectural_style":"No Style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still an operating brick manufacturing facility with active clay mining, office and rail use; some rail cars are abandoned.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:43.482532-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/02000338.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000338/d3fd4b0888-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000338/d3fd4b0888-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Blastoids","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cherokee_Brick_and_Tile_signage_on_building.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Blastoids</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cherokee_Brick_and_Tile_signage_on_building.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93206992","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q125945223"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/bibb-county/cherokee-brick-and-tile-company-02000338/"}