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Alexandria borough, Porter township

Alexandria Made Silica Brick Too

Did you know? Mount Union was not the only town in this county making silica brick. Alexandria had a plant too.

Federal Refractories built a plant west of Alexandria in 1904, at the base of Tussey Mountain. An incline connected it with its quarry on the mountaintop, and the new Petersburg branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad passed within yards of the works, bringing coal for the machinery and kilns and hauling the finished brick to distant markets. A county history printed in 1937 names the large silica brick plants at Mount Union and Alexandria together.

By the end of the 1950s the Alexandria plant had shut down. Maryland Refractories bought it in 1959 to make grog from reclaimed brick, moved to Ohio in the early 1980s, and the plant was razed in 1988.

Checked and confirmed. CONFIRMED 2026-10-03 against the sources listed: every factual sentence was tied to a verbatim passage and a script confirmed each passage is in its source. Where sources disagreed on a number, the number was left out. Information shared with us by readers is given as theirs, not as fact: Myer Souders.

Sources

  1. Nancy S. Shedd, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites (HABS/HAER, 1991)
  2. Souvenir Historical Book, Huntingdon County Sesqui-Centennial (1937)

Checked 2026-10-03 · County histories and primary sources, read in full

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Photographs from Alexandria borough

Pennsylvania Railroad Station, Shelton Avenue, AlexandriaPennsylvania Railroad Station, Shelton Avenue, AlexandriaLibrary of Congress · pa1944
Alexandria Presbyterian Church, Hartslog Street & Shelton Avenue, AlexandriaAlexandria Presbyterian Church, Hartslog Street & Shelton Avenue, AlexandriaLibrary of Congress · pa1942
Alexandria, Town of, AlexandriaAlexandria, Town of, AlexandriaLibrary of Congress · pa1936
Evander P. Walker Store, Main Street, AlexandriaEvander P. Walker Store, Main Street, AlexandriaLibrary of Congress · pa1939
Henry Willibrand Brewery, 700 Block, Main Street, AlexandriaHenry Willibrand Brewery, 700 Block, Main Street, AlexandriaLibrary of Congress · pa1938
Pennsylvania Canal Lockkeeper's House, Hartslog Street & Shelton Avenue, AlexandriaPennsylvania Canal Lockkeeper's House, Hartslog Street & Shelton Avenue, AlexandriaLibrary of Congress · pa1935

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