West Lee Wright laid out Medora in 1853. In 1904, a sample of local shale was made into brick judged “excellent for building and paving,” and the Medora Shale Brick Company was organized that year. By 1910, construction had begun one mile south of here along the Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern Railroad, with six beehive kilns, round structures wrapped with steel bands and topped by squared chimneys. By 1927, ten kilns stood at the site. The plant closed in the 1990s. In 1007, ten kilns remained. Medora formed part of a large industry producing a variety of clay products for agriculture, street paving, and building construction, helping Indiana grow as a leading industrial state. In 1920, Indiana ranked seventh in the U.S. in production of clay products.