The company was formed by and named after Benjamin Mifflin Hood, a
ceramicist born in
Cambridge, Maryland. Hood moved to the Atlanta area in 1904 and soon became involved in the brick manufacturing industry. Hood was appalled by the widespread use of
convict leasing in Georgia's industries, and as early as 1905, signed his name on advertisements for bricks that encouraged customers to "buy free labor." In 1916, he formally incorporated the company and constructed a factory to produce
quarry tile. Shortly after this the company produced ceramic rings used for explosives manufacturing during
World War I. At its height, the company had Georgia plants in
Adairsville,
Rome,
Calhoun, and
Daisy, and North Carolina plants in
Norwood. The company was a major proponent for the establishment of a school of ceramic engineering at
Georgia Tech, which later was absorbed into the current School of Materials Science and Engineering. Hood died in 1946, and despite its success, the company dissolved soon after. ==Legacy==