WWCo, Sparta

Anonymous said...


Have two bricks I would like more info. on. They both came from a wooded area in Northwestern, Ohio. They were used to hold sap pans above a fire in an old maple syrup camp.

W.W. Co.

SPARTA - Mineral Springs, Ohio



36 comments:

  1. Anon, The WWCo is a fire brick made in Parral, OH by the Robinson Clay Products Co.

    The Sparta is an architectural brick made for "looks' This brick was a type made by adding salt to the fire as it was being burned (baked) to give it a glazed look. The Sparta was made by the Federal Clay Products Co of Mineral City.
    Jim Graves, in his work, "Brick Manufacturers of the United States" lists them as being in business in the time period of about 1928 - 1939

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just found one on my property. Southern Indiana.

      Delete
    2. We just found one on our property in Northeastern NY

      Delete
  2. Hello, Fred. I'm also trying to find information on the WWCo brick. How did you come up with your information? I cannot find anything online linking the two except for your comment. Any help is appreciated. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Buffalo, NY here. I found a W.W.C.O. brick a few years ago and then found some again built into a fireplace in Aurora, NY. I found a site saying that the fireplace's cabin was a log cabin constructed in 1940 for the kellog family by Sanford Hubbard (b.1887–d.1955). Hope this helps.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have found a number of them in 2 spots locally to Manchester and East Dorset Vermont. One spot being the Freedley Marble Quarry on Mount Aeolus and in the basement of the old Opera House in Manchester Village

      Delete
  4. I own a 1927 house in Fort Wayne, IN. The fireplace is made of brick and one in the back has W. W. CO. stamped in it. I was trying to find info about the company and came across your post. Hope our info exchange helps each other.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We own a house originally built in late 1700s in West Orange NJ. We found a couple W.W. CO. Bricks in our garden

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have a business in Burlington Ont that is expanding. As we are digging the new foundations we have found W.W. CO bricks from what was once the Glover Box, barrel and basket factory (1893-1966)
    VJ

    ReplyDelete
  7. Another WW Co. fireplace brick in a 1923 South Bend, Indiana house. I've never found a reliable answer, and the Robinson Clay lead is the only one I've ever seen. Let me know if that's right!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have found one in a Peru Indiana home and decided to use it as a turtle home decoration I have no idea where it came from but I like the fact that it has markings on it. If it is valuable that makes it even better for my turtle. I do NOT mean any rudeness but the turtle is my children's.
    I do what I think is best for them

    ReplyDelete
  9. I just bought a house built in 1942 in Kingston, ON. I am digging up the ground and finding an old patio or walk way made of them. They are under an inch or more of dirt and grass. It is a tough dig. There is a similar looking brick in the inside of the fireplace however I don't know if they are W.W. Co. as well.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Found ww co and some freeman fire brick in fire place in nabb IN 1800 a house

    ReplyDelete
  11. I found a brick that had washed up in my yard after a flood. I live just about 20 miles from Athens Ohio. The brick is in really good condition. 'THE FEDERAL CLAY PRODUCT CO.SPARTA MINERAL CITY OHIO' My question is are they worth anything?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Their worth lies with how much you like it versus how much to buy it from you. The real value is having enough of them to build something. Old bricks make nice decorations and conversation pieces. I believe they have little worth unless linked to a historic structure and still not much.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I too found a W. W. Co brink in my garden. My house was built in 1923 in Scotia NY.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I found some of these bricks in Miamiville, Ohio. They are in the remains of an old fireplace that is deep in the woods, near The Little Miami River. This location is also in very close proximity to the former Little Miami RailroadCamp Dennison, a historic Civil War training site.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I just happened to know where there are pallets upon pallets of these bricks never used that are quite unique and old .... They were manufactured in mineral city ohio... They were used as fire brick or fireplaces...

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous,

    I am looking for Sparta bricks made in Mineral City Ohio by the Federal Clay Company. Where are these pallets you are referring to?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous June 15, 2017 3:06 PM

    I have a rather huge, old stone barbecue on my property. It is made of large rounded stones and stone slabs, all mortared together. It has been falling apart gradually for a few years. Today, we reached in and drew out a heavy, pale, pinky-beige colored brick with the initials "W.W.Co." (It could indeed serve as a weapon: 9 1/2" long, 4 1/2" wide, depth 2 1/2" and just shy of 7 1/2 lbs.) Peering inside the barbecue, we spotted more of the same bricks, all appearing in pristine shape. This, and several writers above, lead us to believe these bricks were first class parts of fireplaces, cooking sources and the like. We would be very interested in any further shared observations concerning the W.W.Co., especially located in New England.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Found one in Mary Brown's dingle in Northampton Ma, in the area of the area of the old Round Hill School. It was in good shape and lined up with other bricks, purpose unknown.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I have bricks that were dismantled from an outdoor fireplace in Manchester NH.
    W.W. Co, S Crown and MFB. We are hoping to make our own backyard fire pit using these unique bricks.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I think I win the award for furthest brick! I found a few in Hercules, CA at the former site of The Hercules Powder Co. The largest producer of dynamite in the US for quite a while. Found it with several other California made fire bricks.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I bought a 1901 Victorian in North West Indiana that has three W.W. CO. bricks inside the fireplace.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I found one brick at this with the WWco on it. The site on the old Paul Revere Copper mill site in Canton Mass.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I just found one of these bricks in my back yard. I recently had a shed torn down. The rain washed the dirt away. I live in NC.

    ReplyDelete
  24. ron 9-15-2019 found one in westland michigan walking my dog. looks kinda white in color which fits for fire places

    ReplyDelete
  25. Found a w.w co brick on the shores of the Otonabee river Peterborough Ontario Canada

    ReplyDelete
  26. I have several w.w.co. Bricks from a Finn sauna probably from the early 1920’s. Also, have evens and Howard brick. Some are large reddish brick evens and Howard and some unmarked ones. Like 9x6 inches.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I found one of these bricks in the black River today in Watertown NY.

    I don't know the year or anything, the the ends and edges have been smoothened down as if it were closer to an oval. I imagine that would take a fair amount of time. The wwco stamp remains very clear on the brick.

    I brought it home with me because I was curious.. which led me here.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Does anyone know what the w.w stands for? Found one while tilling a garden in Va.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Found one today.
    Bolton
    Ontario
    Canada

    ReplyDelete
  30. Found one in Tunkhannock creek (Tunkhannock PA) in front of my house. Did a search and found this blog. I’m going to go retrieve it today and find a spot for it.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Found 3 buried under newer brick around our fire pit. We have 1920-40’s cabins on Squirrel Lake in Minocqua, WI.
    That brought me here. I was also wondering the the WW. I was originally thinking maybe one W stood for Wisconsin but it looks like these are found all over the North East area by the posts. So ???

    ReplyDelete
  32. Salvaged some wwco bricks from a tear down site in traverse city Michigan.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Found one in North Eastern Ohio on a hill where there used to be an old foundation. Found this website, had no idea the story behind it. Very cool.

    ReplyDelete