In 1887, The Toronto Mail newspaper raved about the town of Smiths Falls. They wrote that “there were over one hundred buildings erected in Smiths Falls last year” and stated that “over 1,000,000 bricks were manufactured and used for building purposes in the town during the same period.” Meanwhile, the local press reported that “Ryan & Allen’s large brickyard is tried to the full this spring to supply all the orders coming in.”

Smiths Falls had recently become a Canadian Pacific Railway divisional centre while two of the town’s major employers had expanded. Frost & Wood had evolved into one of the largest manufacturers of farm implements in Canada, and the Malleable Castings factory was one of their primary suppliers. A construction boom was the result. Herbert Allen, a bricklayer and stonemason, formed a partnership with contractor Matthew Ryan in 1884. The 1884-5 Ontario Gazetteer and Business Directory confirms this with a listing for Ryan & Allen and describes them as “Brick Makers”. This was a brilliant business to be in at the time, as brick had replaced stone as the building material of choice for the well-to-do.