The original brick smoker at Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor, built in 1959. (Photo © Philip Lamb)

A couple of weeks ago we wrote about a chance to buy a piece of Texas BBQ history - the original catering smoker rig at Snow's BBQ in Lexington. Here's a slightly less expensive opportunity to buy another item representing the best in Texas BBQ.

You may have heard about the fire that recently destroyed the original brick pit at Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor. The pit, which was built in 1959, was a total loss after back-to-back pit fires over the weekend of Feb. 23. Pitmaster and owner Wayne Mueller has decided to turn the disaster into a positive thing by offering the original bricks and lid squares for sale to help fund the rebuilding of a new pit.

Mueller has three other pits, including their catering rig, so they were able to reopen again after cleaning up the huge mess and passing all the necessary health inspections following the fire. However, it's mind-boggling to think about how much great smoked meat passed through that pit since 1959.

You can get all the details on how to purchase a brick from the historic pit on Louie Mueller's facebook page.

Here's the latest from Wayne Mueller:

*** BRICK PIT DECONSTRUCTION | MONDAY 3/11/13 ***

Dis-assembly of the old brick pit has begun! With any luck, we'll have the entire horizontal section removed in the next few days so reconstruction can begin.

Reservations for both bricks and lid squares continues. If you are interested in securing your piece of Texas History, please read the update article titled *** COMMEMORATIVE BRICK RESERVATION INFORMATION *** UPDATE 3/7/2013.

Thanks a million to everyone for your support. We couldn't do this without you!

Stay Tuned...
- Wayne

Wayne Mueller, pitmaster and owner of Louie Mueller Barbecue. (Photo by Tom Fox/DMN)