Kansas Brick and Tile

In 1944, after learning of clay outcroppings in a road ditch just Southeast of Concordia, Charles S. Cook, then president of General Finance, Inc., contacted the State Geological Survey to further test the area. Using German POW’s, testing of the area began and a large deposit of Dakota fire clay suitable for manufacturing quality buff colored building brick was discovered. In late 1945, Charles, along with his wife Marian and brother George H. Cook, held a community-wide dinner and formally presented their plans for building a face brick manufacturing plant to be named Cloud Ceramics. The venture was financed by the sale of corporate stock and 8% debentures.Today, Cloud Ceramics mines 5 different colors of clay from the same Dakota clay field in which the company began over 60 years ago. Cloud Ceramics manufactures over 30 different colors of brick in a variety of sizes and textures and is known in the industry as the “Cadillac” of brick lines.