Andrew, Barthol and Christian, three of the six Rapp brothers, had emigrated to the United States from southern Germany in 1874 to escape military service. They settled on a farm near Forrest, Illinois. In 1875 the entire Rapp family, father, mother, three more brothers, and three sisters joined them at that rural Forrest location. Andrew and Barthol soon tired of farm work and left to become itinerant masons. Eventually they settled in Morton. Realizing the scarcity of building brick in Central Illinois, the two brothers concluded that they could make more money manufacturing brick than they could laying them. They built a crude brick making machine and a kiln on land they acquired at the south side of town along the Penn-Central railroad tracks. They operated their business with a slim margin of profit, but they were providing a much needed service to Morton.

At the time that this new business began, Morton Township was situated on low, swampy land that could not be easily farmed. Andrew and Barthol conceived the idea that their business should be expanded to include the manufacturing of field drainage tile. They encouraged their brothers John, Christian, Samuel and Matthew, who were still on the farm near forrest, to join them in their business venture in Morton. A partnership was set up and would be known as Rapp Brothers Brick and Tile Company. All of the brothers had worked with clay as their trade in Germany. Perhaps that accounts for the success they met with from the beginning of their clay products operation in their new locale.

During the early years, the company manufactured its products with horse powered machinery invented by Barthol. Soon a second kiln was built in order to fire more brick and tile. As farmers and contractors came for brick and drainage tile, their wives and other towns-women would express their need for mixing bowls and other utility items that were not easily available to them. Heeding those demands, a second operation was set in motion at the brick and tile location. The true pottery business was brought to Morton and would be known as the Morton Pottery Works, or Rapp Brothers Pottery Works. Both names have been found on invoices and in advertising. Order sheets were set up so they could be used for either of the Rapp Brothers' operations. The two businesses operated as separate, but shared facilities.

As production increased, the brothers divided their work load so that each developed his own specialty. Andrew was in charge of the office and sales. Barthol was head of the brick and tile operation which he moved to East Peoria, Illinois, in 1936. John managed the kilns and supervised the manufacture of sagger boxes. Christian was the fireman and engineer. His task was to maintain even firing temperatures in the kilns. Samuel supervised the glazing process at the pottery, and Matthew created the designs and made the plaster molds used to cast the greenware. Matthew also experimented with wheel thrown originals, but mass produced cast ware was far more profitable, so he seldom worked at the potter's wheel.

In January 1910 the tile works was destroyed by a fire that started in the drying room near the kilns. The fire rapidly spread to the side walls and the low rubberoid roof, then continued toward the pottery. It took nearly three hours to bring the fire under control and save the pottery from being destroyed. The firefighters remained at the scene all night long and occasionally hosed down new bursts of flames. The following morning the Rapp brothers and their employees set about cleaning up the debris so the tile works could be rebuilt immediately. In rebuilding, the wooden pillars and girders were replaced with steel, and a concrete roof was used rather than the rubberoid tile. Because so many of the iron dummy cars had been destroyed by the fire, the Rapps decided to use steel cars in the new operation. The local newspaper, in reporting the building progress, stated "this plan will give them proof against fire in the future and make it the best and most modern tile plant in the state, if not in the entire west."

Though the pottery was not damaged, electrical lines were cut during the conflagration and had to be repaired. Only one day of production was lost. The following expression of gratitude to those who had worked so hard fighting the fire was placed in the Morton News on January 13, 1910:

"We feel in our hearts that the fire department, the town officials and the village in general have done us a great service in their successful efforts of saving our pottery from destruction by fire when the tile works was burning last Thursday night. We desire to publicly express our thanks, our gratitude, and great appreciation to you one and all for the timely and heroic assistance, and we assure you our feeling is deep seated and comes from the heart. To our farmer friends and others who cheerfully came Friday to aid us in cleaning up the ruins of the destroyed building, we tender our heartfelt thanks.

Sincerely, Rapp Brothers."

Despite efforts to fireproof the new building, fires would continue to plague the tile works. On July 12, 1922, two fires broke out. At nine o'clock that evening, a fire was discovered in the roof that connected the two kilns. It was extinguished quickly with little damage to the roof. However, around midnight, the fire erupted a second time. In each case, the fire was on the roof between the first and second kiln. The roof was old and the lumber supporting it was beginning to decay. Its primary purpose was to provide shade for those who stoked the furnace in the kiln area when coal was used as fuel. Ater the 1910 fire, natural gas was used to fire the kilns, so the roof was no longer a necessity and it was not replaced. As was the case in 1910, the pottery portion of the business was not damaged by the fire.

During the 1920's, the tile works struggled to stay in business. The old buildings were torn down in December 1922 after being sold to A.E. Gerber. Equipment that was serviceable was moved across town to the location of a new pottery, Morton Pottery Company. Loss of the buildings did not stop the production of tile, but did slow it down considerably. At times the operation was shut down completely. This account in the Morton News on August 10, 1923, alludes to the companiy's difficulties. "The Morton Brick and Tile Works has been operating during the last week with four persons being employed, and they will be ready to fill a kiln within the next few days. Samuel Rapp states that they plan to make tile until cold weather to fill the orders which he has."

After weathering the Great Depression, the destiny of the tile works was finalized at the end of June 1936. It was destroyed by still another fire which was discovered about noon on Thursday, June 25th. The fire originated in a rubbish heap that had been left unattended at the rear of the factory. It ignited weeds and spread rapidly to the buildings. The fire was out of control by the time the firefighting equipment arrived. Flames were spreading toward the pottery building. Realizing that there was no hope of saving the tile factory, the firemen directed their attention to the pottery where flames were already burning the west side of the building. A stream of chemicals was played upon the wall and the flames were extinguished before causing any serious damage. The tile factory was completely destroyed except for a small storage warehouse and a small office building near the kilns. Though the loss was partially covered by insurance, the tile works was not rebuilt this time.