What is terra cotta?

Terra cotta was introduced in the United States by immigrant artisans from England in the mid-19th century. Steel-framed skyscrapers needed decorative, inexpensive and lightweight fire-resistant materials for decoration and protection from the elements. America's terra cotta industry began in Chicago, and the first East Coast facility opened in Perth Amboy in 1879. New Jersey clay was famous for its perfect texture for making terra cotta. During the first quarter of the 20th century the Atlantic Terra Cotta Co. was the largest producer of architectural terra cotta in the world. National production of terra cotta quadrupled from 1900 to 1912. Terra cotta provided the ideal facade for the high rise, metal skeletal, constructed buildings. Craftsmen prepared scale models from architects' drawings. From these they made full scale clay models from which they pulled plaster molds. Then they pressed one and a half inch clay slabs into the plaster molds, separating the clay elements from the molds after they dried. Finally the craftsmen glazed and fired the clay elements to achieve the final product.