H. H. Veneklasen founded a brick factory in 1848 about three miles southeast of Holland. Mr. Veneklasen had been a brick layer in the province of Overijsel, Netherlands. In 1853, he with his four sons, moved the brick factory to Groningen, and then later to Zeeland (547 W. Main) in about 1883.

They hand-made between 4,000 and 5,000 bricks daily and approximately 100,000 bricks during the season. They had to dig clay for the bricks.

Some early workers were: S. Buter, B. Veneklasen, J. Schipper, G. VanDraght, J. Greets, G. J. Buter, J. Middlehoek, H. Dirks, B. Jekel, H. Kromedyk, and H. Brinks.