ABSTRACT
This article contributes to understanding the modernization processes of the civil construction industry in Brazil in the second half of the 19th century. It analyzes the role played by Antônio Carlos Sampaio Peixoto, an entrepreneur in the city of Campinas-SP who owned a factory inaugurated in 1867 that manufactured bricks, tubular pieces, and tiles. The factory was composed of a foundry (iron and bronze) and a blacksmith shop, which produced materials (railings and fittings) essential to civil construction modernization. The entrepreneur’s actions were broad, not limited to the modernization of his industry, but expanding to include political and social action. As a strategy to amplify its sales and diffuse its products, Sampaio Peixoto advertised in local and regional newspapers. This research is based on the analysis of articles published in these newspapers and photographs that register the installations and production processes of Imperial “Olaria Ferraria” and “Oficina Mecânica”.
