A couple of years ago, I appraised a home in West Michigan that was built in 1881, and the entire exterior structure (except the roof and windows

)
was a molded concrete block. There is a similar home nearby.
The blocks were apparently a particular designer creation; and were probably considered very attractive in their day. As both homes are still well maintained, and functional after 121 years; there may be something to the way they were mixed. They were not fired, but retain their integrity. Only the molded design features are muted - assumed to be originally more defined.
HERE'S MY OLDER THAN DIRT STORY - true, by the way. As a kid, my numerous siblings and I hand dug a basement under our house. It was half crawl space, and half dirt cellar when we bought it; and today is a full walkout basement. All the digging was done by kids using a spade and 2 buckets. The dirt removed levelled the yard, filled in ruts in the alley and made a bike jump at the end of the alley.