The Frankston Brick Company, was established in 1887 with works at the corner of Lee Street & Cranbourne Road. Thomas Ritchie, who established a chain of produce stores that still operates as Ritchie's Supermarkets
The company used the Frankston pier for shipping bricks to Melbourne and receiving firewood for their brick kilns on the foreshore. They excavated sand from a nearby quarry for the manufacture of lime silica bricks in the 1950s.
The company was run by Colortone Holdings from 1932 to 1961. Calsil, a Perth based company specialising in calcium silica bricks, acquired Colortone in 1966 and expanded the works, then in 1988 Boral bought out Calsil.
The opening of the plant was described in some detail:
The works of the Frankston Brick Com-
pany are now in full operation, the formal
starting of the machinery having been recently
celebrated, in the presence of a large
number of the shareholders. The company
have about 15 acres of land within
about a mile from the Frankston
railway station, and still nearer to the
pier. On this site has been erected
complete plant, including a 45 horse power
engine, will 20-in. cylinder, working a 9ft.
grinding pan, a 7ft mixing pan and a single
semi-dry machine. The elevators used are
Gill's patent, while all the other machinery is
of Fawcett's patent. The machinery was
supplied by Messrs James McEwan andCo.
The plant is capable of furnishing an output of
about 50,000 bricks per week, which can if
necessary be increased to 100,000. The com-
pany has secured a lease of the ground for
42 years at a nominal rental and free from
royalty, and the day has been tried to a
depth of 30ft. The company intend supplying
not only ordinary building bricks, but also
black, cream, and red facing bricks
