Bill Simons' Memories of Cooksville Brick 1945 - 62
By Marian M. Gibson

Mississauga has a rich industrial heritage. The following story is about part of that heritage based on the memories of one man, Bill Simons, an employee of Cooksville Brick between 1945 and 1962. Bill Simons started working at Cooksville Brick in 1945, doing a variety of jobs and later driving the loading machinery. By 1958, he became a driver of the shovel equipment used to dig the clay and shale from the clay pits.

Before a lane became what is now Mavis Road, where the present plant gate is today, the entrance to Cooksville Brick was off Dundas Street, between Mavis Road and Parker Hill (later named Parker Hill Road). The CNR tracks formed the northern limit of the Cooksville Brick property and the Philips Farm was on the northeast part above the clay pits. Colonel Parker's big home was at the top of the hill and belonged to the Cooksville Brick Company.

To the west of the Dundas Street entrance, was the Haydite Plant where building blocks, similar to concrete but lighter, was made from ground shale and cooked to a high temperature. When used in building, 10-foot slabs of Haydite were laid on top of steel girders and the floors were put on top of them.

Small engines, called "Dinkies" were used to transport prepared bricks on two big clay cars to the dryer. From there they went to one of the three kilns, where the bricks were fired by gas produced from coal.

The owner of Cooksville Brick at this time was Mr. Aubrey Cote. According to Bill, he was a fine man, who was very sociable away from work, but was "strictly business when at the brick works." some of the other people Bill remembers include Mr. Frank Schubert, the kiln boss, Mr. Winston and "Dutch" Holland.

Mr. Cote and Mr. Schubert lived in the two big houses on the road up to the plant from Dundas Street; they are gone now. in 1950, Mr. Cote built a beautiful home on the west side of #10 Highway between today's Mineola Road and Indian valley, although at that time, Bill says, there are no other houses in that area.


Bill tells of the interesting fact that there were about 50 German seamen prisoners-of-war working at the Cooksville Brick when he arrived in 1945. They were housed in a dormitory on site and enjoyed quite a bit of freedom, occasionally going down to Sunnyside for recreation. They also were allowed to use a fine pool table belonging to Mr. Cote. Bill was given the job of dismantling the table and re-installing it in Mr. Cote's home on #10. Bill was also the captain of the Cooksville Brick baseball team - but that's a story for another time.
Bill is now retired and spends much of his time as a cabinetmaker and doing creative carpentry. He lives with his wife, May, in Port Credit.