Site of Carnegie

The 2021 plaque rewrote the town. Its 1961 predecessor gave Carnegie 3,500 people, 45 kilns and 13 tall smokestacks; the replacement, cast for the fiftieth anniversary of the state's off-highway vehicle program, says 350 people, 26 kilns and four stacks, and names John and James Treadwell, who ran the Carnegie Brick and Pottery Company from 1902. Clay came from Tesla, four miles west. Boiler explosions and money trouble closed the works in 1912, and the ground is now the Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area, where riders cross the town site.

What the plaque says

Site of Carnegie In a town named for industrialist Andrew Carnegie, John and James Treadwell owned and operated the Carnegie Brick and Pottery Company from 1902 to 1912. Using clay mined at Tesla, four miles to the west of Carnegie, the factory produced over seventy million bricks and architectural terra cotta products, used in prominent buildings throughout California and the West, many of which stand today. The factory included numerous large buildings, twenty-six kilns, and four tall smokestacks. At its height, 350 people lived in Carnegie where one could find a company store, hotel, saloon, butcher shop, school, two bunkhouses, and family cabins. Two boiler explosions and financial difficulties beginning in 1909 led to the factory closing in 1912. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 740 Plaque originally placed by California State Parks July 1, 1961. Plaque replaced in 2021 in commemoration of the California State Parks 50th Anniversary of the Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Program.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Corral Hollow — 4.0 mi
• Wente Bros. Winery — 10 mi
• Concannon Vineyard — 11 mi
• Cresta Blanca Winery — 12 mi