Nestled on the edge of the Missouri Coteau, 40 minutes away from Moose Jaw and Regina... Claybank Brick Plant National Historic Site is North America’s best preserved historic brick plant... a valuable resource for all Canadians.
Every last Sunday in June a group of dedicated volunteers put on Heritage Day, a day of community activities for families, visitors, culture and heritage enthusiasts who come by the hundreds to find out about Claybank, and how this spectacular industrial plant helped define architectural style not only in Saskatchewan, but elsewhere around the World.
Claybank bricks were used to build the likes of the Bessborough Hotel in Saskatoon, and the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City.
Because of their refractory quality, the bricks were used to line fireboxes in locomotives during the golden age of steam engines, even to line the Appollo rocket launch pads at Cape Canaveral.
Today, the renovated bunkhouse offers visitors to Claybank tasty and affordable country lunches featuring Saskatoon pie.
Outside, visitors are free to roam on a magnificent site that hasn’t changed much since the brick factory opened here 100 years ago. The grounds of the factory remain to this day much as they were was back when the plant closed in 1989.
Take a guided tour led by a former employee who will gladly share precious stories about the early days of Prairie industrialization.
Heritage Day provides participants a chance to explore the fascinating world of clay by engaging people of all ages and educating them about the ways in which clay products and traditions have helped shape communities all around us.
There is no better place to go play in the mud -- so to speak -- on a Sunday afternoon.
You too will be compelled to immerse yourself in an environment highlighting ancestral trades under the guidance of experts.
If you wish to learn about bricklaying, masonry, stone cutting and flint knapping traditions, if you seek entertaining knowledge about the history of transportation and manufacturing in Saskatchewan, Claybank awaits you!
Come discover Claybank Brick Plant National Historic Site.
Perhaps you too will be surprised by the influence this special living heritage resource has had in shaping the places where we work and play today, wherever we live in Canada.
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