Mike Baker Brick, Lafayette location exterior
Mike Baker Brick - Lake Charles location exterior

About Us

Since 1946, Mike Baker Brick has built a reputation for outstanding service and continued commitment to the future of the Lafayette, Lake Charles and surrounding areas. We are a third generation, family owned business that has kept up with the changing times. Today we utilize computer-aided technology to guarantee that you will have the best selection of new and old brick, manufactured and natural stone, as well as most other building supplies you could need. Our extensive product line includes mortar mix, wall ties, lintels, mason fireplace equipment, new and old pavers, mortar and concrete coloring and decorative vents. We will help to create the look you want at no extra cost to you. We are your best source for brick and masonry materials in the Lafayette, Lake Charles and surrounding areas. We represent most major brick manufacturers with plants located all over the United States. We successfully mix state-of-the-art products with Old World quality and have a variety of new bricks with the look of yesterday and today. We offer the largest selection with the highest quality of masonry products.

Our History

In 1968, former Naval officers Cyril K. Moresi and Henry Busch, breathed new life into the old Guidry Brick Factory in Lafayette, giving rise to the “Mike Baker Brick Company, Inc.” Our inspiration from the military’s phonetic alphabet led to the name, with “M” for Moresi and “B” for Busch. Over nearly a quarter of a century, we’ve expanded to become a significant industry in Lafayette Parish, contributing to the region’s growth and leaving our mark on numerous public and private buildings with our distinctive bricks, including those at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette General Hospital, and more.

1968: LAFAYETTE HISTORY.
THE MIKE-BAKER BRICK COMPANY.

From the Lafayette Daily Advertiser of January 28th, 1968:

By: Bob Angers, Jr.

Two former Naval officers named Cyril K. Moresi and Henry Busch bought the old Guidry Brick Factory on Buchanan St. in Lafayette in 1946 and turned to the phonetic alphabet they had come to know so well in the armed services in naming their new company.

“M” was “Mike” (for Moresi) and “B” was “Baker” (for Busch) and the “Mike Baker Brick Company, Inc.” became a new industry for Lafayette Parish. In nearly a quarter of a century of service the company has expanded to a second location at Cade and there is a “Mike Baker Brick Company of Lafayette, Inc.” and a “Mike Baker Brick Company of New Iberia, Inc.”

Before Moresi and Busch set sail on the reorganization and and ultimate expansion of the old Guidry plant that was closed during World War II they hoisted a couple of signal flags onto their company stationery and the firm’s letterhead today contains the crossed “Mike” and “Baker” banners.

65-MAN PAYROLL

There are 65 men and women employed in the Mike Baker plants today and this means an industrial payroll in excess of $200,000 annually. The inter-related and inter-locking 14-acre plant in Lafayette and 26-acre factory at Cade have manufactured between 150 million and 200 million bricks to date.

Lafayette’s expansion since the mid-1940s has come about with major assistance from brick provided by Mike Baker. All but one of the buildings erected at the University of Southwestern Louisiana during that period have the Mike Baker brick identification. The Lafayette General Hospital is another edifice that stands as a monument to the local industry’s brick-making capability.

A special hand-crafted wedge-shaped brick was designed by the company for the art museum. Lafayette High School and Northside High are MB-bricked. So are Ovey Comeaux, Cathedral-Carmel, Father Teurlings and elementary schools throughout the parish.

Much of the brick in the Oil Center came from Mike Baker. The new parish courthouse now ready for occupancy, and the city jail-city court building under construction have the MB-brand. The company has provided brick for the Municipal Auditorium, the Cinema Theater, the Doc Bonin Power Plant, the federal building housing the main post office, the New Iberia civic center, New Iberia High School, Berwick High. Many other public and private buildings have been bricked by MB-made products or bricks provided by the company from two out of state manufacturers Mike Baker represents.

About half of the company’s production has gone into home building, primarily brick veneer, Busch reveals. Computing an average of 7,500 bricks to the house this means his company has furnished bricks for some 10,000 homes.

Simulating old brick has gotten to be an important part of Mike Baker’s production and the “Cajun Antique” is very much in demand. The company makes a facing brick for some construction, a back up brick for middle walls, manhole or catch basin brick, drain tile and building tile.

Some of the sophisticated names that the textured face bricks carry include Acadian Red, Bronze Velvatex, Colonial Sanface, Fiesta Blend, Sunglo, Old Smokey, Champagne and others. There is a Patio brick and a Roman brick and Norman brick available through Mike Baker.

HOW BRICK IS MADE

How is a brick manufactured? A dragline digs the clay out of the ground and it is “weathered” in a clay storage shed. A front end loader removes it from the shed and places it in the process of first grinding. “Pugging” – like the baker kneads the bread dough – is the next step. The brick is then shredded, evacuated, extruded, cut, hacked and readied for drying. After drying it is set in a kiln, burned, cooled and packaged for delivery.

Craftsmen in brick manufacturing include mill foreman, burning foreman, burners, packaging foreman, dispatchers, dragline operators, front end loader operators, lift truck operators, truck drivers, hackers and packagers.

The old Guidry Brick Factory was purchased from Mrs. Alcee Guidry and started as the Mike Baker operation in 1946 after Busch and Moresi were able to locate and re-hire the one-time foreman of the company, a man named Catalon. He had gone to work in a furniture factory in Lake Charles after wartime conditions caused Guidry to shut the plant.

Thirty men were employed initially and there was such a post-war demand for bricks that trucks used to line up at the Buchanan Street plant to load out as soon as the bricks were finished. Draglines were hard to find so 13 men had to dig the clay out with shovels and load it into dump trucks. A used dragline was found in New Orleans and bought by Mike Baker to expedite this operation.

The lack of a vacuum chamber in the earlier days made brick manufacturing rougher in the green stage prior to burning, but this problem was overcome. In 1954 the company added a down draft kiln, dryer and clay storage shed. Prior to that time brick-making could only take place when the sun was shining. Delivery and fork lift trucks were added and the small gauge interplant railroad removed. Other plant modernization took place.

In November, 1956, Moresi and Busch bought the Collins Conrad brick factory near Burke in Iberia Parish and moved it and constructed a new plant at Cade on a 26-acre tract. Moresi died the same week as the Iberia transaction. The two plants have equivalent capacity and are comparably equipped.

Lafayette has had a brick factory since 1909. Mike Baker added a 40 x 60 office and warehouse in 1959. The present plant now has two down draft kilns, an up draft kiln, a clay storage shed, two drying sheds, a dryer, a mill room and a shop on the 14-acre site. It is serviced by a railroad spur. Rolling stock for the local plant includes a dump truck, two trailer trucks, a bob-tailed pick-up truck, three salesmen’s cars, dragline, front end loader, and track-laying tractor, and three fork trucks. The rolling stock is duplicated at the New Iberia plant.

COMPANY OFFICIALS

Henry Busch is president of the firm and his son, Bill, is Lafayette plant vice-president while another son, Brit, is vice-president at New Iberia. Mrs. Cyril K. Moresi is secretary-treasurer.

Leo Champagne is plant superintendent, Mrs. Willa Lee Landry is chief bookkeeper and Mrs. Lenell Guidry is a bookkeeper at Lafayette. George Lang and Don Babin are shipping foremen. The head burners are Eddie Viltz and Joseph Sampey. Anthony Girard is pit foreman, while Henry Savoy and Linus Landor are mill foremen. Salesmen include Ted Evanoff, Roland Gondron and Brit Busch.

Both Bill and Brit Busch are USL graduates, the former in finance and the latter in economics. Henry Busch is a Texas A & M graduate who also attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mike Baker Brick Company serves a market area from the Houma-Thibodaux area west to Lake Charles and extending to Alexandria.

Brick by brick a lasting payroll is built for Acadiana.

Lafayette Daily Advertiser, 1/28/1968.

No place is more important than your home, so don’t let anything compromise it. Brick is environmentally friendly, virtually maintenance free and beautifully enduring. It offers elegance and protection that the years can’t take away. For this generation and those to come, let us help you build the home of your dreams. We can work with any look, any lifestyle and any budget. Whether you are building a home, remodeling, or are considering a large project, give us a call.  We are looking forward to becoming a great asset to your team.

Lafayette Branch

Bradley Busch

Bradley Busch

Owner of Mike Baker Brick

Henry Busch III

Henry Busch III

Owner of Mike Baker Brick

Scotty Huval

Scotty Huval

General Manager

Ed Bruce

Ed Bruce

Sales Representative

Sheila Camel

Sheila Camel

Accounts Receivable

Larry LeJeune

Larry LeJeune

Sales Representative

Kathryn Allemand

Kathryn Allemand

Purchasing/Logistics

Holly Leger

Holly Leger

Sales Representative

B.J. Picard

B.J. Picard

Sales Representative

Virginia Tate

Virginia Tate

Dispatch/Yard Manager

Gaige Comeaux

Gaige Comeaux

Fork-lift operator/yard hand

Kim Taylor

Kim Taylor

Driver

Jude St. Amant

Jude St. Amant

Driver

Kenneth JeanLewis

Kenneth JeanLewis

Driver

Trey Perkins

Trey Perkins

Fork-lift operator/yard hand

Lake Charles Branch

Kevin Bertrand

Kevin Bertrand

General Manager

Glen Arsement

Glen Arsement

Yard Manager

Rebecca Pousson

Rebecca Pousson

Outside Sales Representative

Amy Landry

Amy Landry

Office Administrator

Christine Hammett

Christine Hammett

Inside Sales

Jeff Pankhurst

Jeff Pankhurst

Fork-lift operator/Driver

Trish Baca

Trish Baca

Inside Sales