The history of the Medicine Hat Brick & Tile Company follows a convoluted trail, with many changes in ownership and management. The company was situated on the site of Medicine Hat’s first brick yard, originally started by Ben McCord in 1885. Jacob and Charles Purmal took the plant over from McCord in the 1 890s and renamed it the Purmal Brick Company. As brick houses became more popular, the company’s business prospered. With Llewellen Pruitt, another brick maker, the brothers enlarged and modernized the factory in 1907. Pruitt took over the plant in 1911 when Jacob died.

The company continued to expand and by 1912, employed 75 men and had a production capacity of 200,000 bricks per day. Planned enlargements were to double the plant’s capacity. However, despite a surge in the construction industry at this time, the plant was forced to foreclose in 1912. A move to reorganize the company in 1915 was pre-empted by a federal government order which closed all factories not directly engaged in war production. The plant did not resume operations until 1920, this time under the name of the Gas City Clay Products Company. 1924 saw a further reorganization, with all outstanding mortgages converted to bond issues and another name change to the Medicine Hat Brick & Tile Company. A disastrous fire in 1925 caused $100,000 in damages, and forced the plant to close down once more.

The company struggled to its feet again, and was purchased in 1929 by Herbert J. Sissons. At the time, Sissons already owned the Redcliff Pressed Brick Company which he had founded in 1912. With the acquisition of the brick and tile plant, he moved his head office from Redcliff to Medicine Hat. The company remained in his hands, and subsequently those of his three sons Tom, Jack and Gordon. Under the Sissons, the Medicine Hat Brick & Tile Company became one of the industry leaders in western Canada. It followed a steady pattern of growth and development which accelerated in the years after World War II.

By 1963, Medicine Hat Brick & Tile had six large plants in Alberta: two in Redcliff, three in Medicine Hat and one in Edmonton. The company’s products included brick, sewer pipe and fittings, flue lining, porcelain insulators, and tile. Between 1965 and 1980, it continued expanding into Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Montana. The head office and research laboratory were maintained in Medicine Hat.

In 1971, Medicine Hat Brick & Tile changed its name to reflect the diverse operations which it controlled. The new name, I-XL Industries, derived from the I-XL trademark used on bricks manufactured at the Redcliff Pressed Brick Company founded by Herbert Sissons and his associates in 1912. Since that time, Sisson’s enterprise had followed a methodical pattern of growth: his company developed from the small Redcliff brickyard to become the largest manufacturer of clay products in western Canada. I-XL is presently the sole survivor of Medicine Hat’s clay products industry.