Gladding, McBean, a terra cotta manufacturing company in Lincoln, mines from a clay deposit that keeps on giving. The company has mined from the same deposit since opening in 1875, and which still likely contains more than 100 years worth of material, says Jamie Farnham, national sales manager.
Clay is mined onsite and mixed before it is molded, stamped, dried, glazed, fired, quality checked and shipped to customers across the country. Gladding, McBean’s architectural terra cotta is meticulously hand-sculpted by artisans who often create replacement units for worn-out building façades, replicating ornate designs.
We have three sculptors on staff, and each one of them has been here for no less than 10 years,” Farnham says, which includes Arturo Ruiz (pictured above) who has been with the company for 25 years.
“We work in a history museum,” says Jamie Farnham, national sales manager for Gladding, McBean in Lincoln. Parts of the historic building have remained untouched for decades.
The company’s origins go back 143 years to when the founders discovered and began mining a high-quality clay deposit and manufacturing sewer pipe onsite, before expanding the product line to include architectural facades, pottery and roof tile.
The original beehive kilns are still operational, though the fires are now fueled by natural gas rather than wood.
The company merged with Interpace in 1962 before being acquired by Pacific Coast Building Products in 1976.
Today, the sewer pipe and architectural terra cotta fluctuate as the top selling products, Farnham says.