Carnegie is a former town in Corral Hollow, in San Joaquin County, California.
It waa discovered that the Tesla coal mines in Corral Hollow contained a rich deposit of clay. Fueled by California's rapid population growth and the subsequent demand for building materials, the mine owners, San Francisco & San Joaquin Coal Company, formed the Carnegie Brick and Pottery Company in 1902. In 1904, the plant to make brick and terra cotta was built near the Alameda and San Joaquin Railroad line, four miles east of Tesla. A town was in place with over 300 inhabitants (mainly Italian artisans) and the town's brick factory was producing upwards of 100,000 bricks per day. In 1904, the Pottery sewer pipe plant was built between Carnegie and Tesla.
However, in 1911 a flood destroyed the railroad and mine workings, the Company could not afford to rebuild. The towns of Carneige and Tesla were abandoned. The rail line from Carbona was abandoned by the Western Pacific Railroad in January 1916.[1] By 1916 the brick company was facing financial ruin and was sold. The new owners, in an effort to return the area to ranch land, sold off the factory's equipment and destroyed what remained of the town's buildings. On May 27, 1917 the tall smokestacks at the plant were dynamited. Today only the foundation of the brick works can be seen within the Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area. [2]
|
||||||||||||||||||||