Klein Brick, Chaska, MN
This 1911 overlay shows where the drying racks and kilns were located in what is known today as Firemen's Park.
This 1913 view would be from across Firemen's Lake looking south at the drying racks and kilns. Downtown Chaska is in the background.
Milo Born is pictured standing in front of one of the beehive kilns.
This 1953 aerial view of the Firemen's Park area shows that some of the kilns are gone. But four still remain. It also shows that most or all of the drying racks are gone from the Firemen's Park area. You can still see the outline of where some of them were. It is interesting to note that this area also had brick heating tunnels leading to each of the kilns. One has recently been excavated.
This 1953 aerial view shows what remained of the Klein Brick factory in the north east corner of Chaska. The drying racks toward the east is where Klingelhutz Hardware would be built. The drying racks toward the west is where Cooper's Market would be built. The building immediately south of the west drying racks appears to be the main brick factory.
This 1972 aerial view shows that the drying racks to the east are gone. In their place is the Klingelhutz Hardware store. The drying racks to the west are also gone. However, what appears to be the Klein Brick Factory building still remains. The steam locomotive is still displayed. However, in 1973 it was moved out of town.