A Brickyard That Dug Its Clay From the Fox Riverbank
East Dundee was platted in the early 1840s by first settler Joseph Russell and incorporated in 1871, four years after neighboring West Dundee. That same year, German immigrant David Haeger became part owner of a brickyard that had been operating along the Fox River since 1852, digging its clay straight out of the riverbank; after the Great Chicago Fire that same year, the brickyard shipped bricks into Chicago to help rebuild the city, and by 1914 the business -- known as Haeger Potteries -- had moved into producing affordable art pottery, operating continuously for 145 years until it closed in 2016.
145 Years of Industry Built on River-Bottom Clay
A business that spent over a century digging clay from the Fox River's own bank is a reminder of how close East Dundee's older industrial and residential ground sits to the water, and that proximity has meant real exposure to the region's declared flood events, including the 1996 disaster and the April 2013 Fox River flooding nearby. Homes and commercial buildings built near that old brickyard site sit on ground that has already seen a century and a half of river-edge saturation, which is exactly the kind of history that should inform how thoroughly a structure gets dried out after a water event, not just how fast the standing water is pumped out.
Project Paths
Planning a water damage restoration Project in East Dundee
Water category, elapsed time, hidden cavities, electrical safety, and material porosity determine the right response. This site does not promise emergency availability.