In 1905, the Vancouver Fireclay Company was established and started manufacturing bricks using the brand name ‘Clayburn’ on its products.

This was due initially to the hard work and foresight of Charles Maclure who discovered the rich clay deposits of Sumas Mountain and who brought investors in to create the enterprise.

In 1906, a post office was opened in Charles Purver’s store, a village name was needed and the town of Clayburn was established.

The architect Samuel Maclure, older brother to Charles, is thought to have designed the original homes and the concept of the townsite.

The pre-1909 brick row of houses in Clayburn Village achieved a unity of appearance, which was unique in BC.

The incorporation of other general architectural styles such as the bungalow roof and verandah, suggests that the houses were the product of a trained architect.

This theory is corroborated by the ideal positioning of the houses in relation to each other so as to best take advantage of the vista of Sumas Mountain to the east.

The Clayburn Company built a wooden school in 1907 and donated the land and bricks for a church in 1912, both are located on Wright St.

There was a ‘new subdivision’ in 1911 which expanded the original townsite to the west side of Wright St. For the first time, some of the new lots were offered for purchase to the public except for one new company-built house for Roderick Reid, the Works Accountant.

In this way through the 1930s eleven kilns, six round and five rectangular ones, the storage buildings, the office, the tunnel dryer, and the massive smokestack bearing CLAYBURN 1911 were taken down, until by 1940 nothing except a few ruined foundations remained.

It is located in the basement of the restored schoolhouse and displays a scale model of Clayburn, circa 1920 and many other artifacts from the brick plant and the village.