Water
II. Bricks on the Hudson: Brockway
My two great-grandfathers: men of the soil- one who cleared the land stone by stone, the other- who manufactured brick by brick to build the city…
Address: RF, Box 197, Brockway, Wappingers Falls, NY.
From when he arrived in Beacon from Ellis Island in the first decade of the 20th century, to when he raised a growing family, to when his wife died in 1941, to the 4th of May 1945 when his youngest son Marine Clement Pollack, Jr., his namesake, was killed in action, until he died in 1959, Great-grandfather worked and lived on the Brockway property. For fifty years, he never experienced any other part of the new land he called home. My two great-grandfathers: men of the soil- one who cleared the land stone by stone, the other- who manufactured brick by brick to build the city.
Photo: Bonnie Wood 20 November 2021 Courtesy of the Beacon Historical Society.
1886: The Beginning
Excerpt: From Frank Hasbrouck’s The History of Dutchess County, New York published 1909.
19 March 1896
Organized in a secret session, the Consolidated Brick Company included Brockway in Fishkill and Hutton and Staples in Kingston (mentioned in I. Bricks on the Hudson.) Read entire “Brickmakers Combination” article at HRVH Newspapers.
9 April 1901
Dutchess County brick makers supplied the builders in NYC and other metropolitan areas.
Photo: Bonnie Wood 20 November 2021 Courtesy of the Beacon Historical Society.
From Haverstraw to Albany, not only manufacturing but also the carting of bricks was a profitable business on the Hudson.
Photo: Bonnie Wood 20 November 2021 Courtesy of the Beacon Historical Society.
5 March 1912: “Back to Brick”
Brick manufacturers including Brockway and Terry Brothers (see "I. Bricks on the Hudson") attended this International Clay Products Exposition to promote bricks as a cost effective building material. (Read the full article printed 5 March 1912 at HRH Historical Newspapers.)
I. Bricks on the Hudson: Landslide at Terry’s
Until I was standing in the water with bricks under my boots, I did not realize how many bricks are along this stretch of the west side of the Hudson.
Finding a Terry brick in the garden of the historic Frazier House in Rhinebeck intrigued me. I wondered about the age, the manufacturer and brick making in general since my great grandfather a Hungarian immigrant worked at the Brockway brickyard when he arrived in America in the first decade of the 20th century. At that time, the Hudson Valley was called the brick making capital of the world with a high concentration of yards from Haverstraw to Kingston. When my father was a young teenager, his grandfather brought him to the brickyard to work; high school was not an option. Following the example set by his strong and determined grandfather, my father learned the value of hard work. My great grandfather and my father were not alone. How many immigrants and others struggling to support themselves and their families endured this difficult trade along the Hudson? In many instances, the workers lived on brickyard property. How many never left the brickyard? My great grandfather never did; his sons and grandsons did.
Thinking again about the Terry brick, the research begins. I soon discovered on brickcollecting.com that the brick was manufactured at Terry Brothers brickyard in Kingston Point, NY which began operations in 1850. They also shared a link to “Submerged Safe Recovered”
New York Times article dated 29 November 1901 (p. 11) available on Time Machine
More to Explore:
“A peculiar fact” is even more ‘peculiar’ when I discovered that Hudson Valley One reports that the esteemed architect Calvert Vaux designed Terry’s house on Broadway; the house no longer stands. What a difference between the lives of the owner and that of the workers!
Landslides were another danger added to an already dangerous job for exhausted workers. The journalist writes papers and money, but there are no further details. I am even more curious…
HRVH includes many articles about the Terry brickyard. Although many include reports of accidents and injuries resulting from the work of brick making and employee strikes and discord, reference to the landslide appears in the clipping below.
Devorah Lev-Tov’s 21 May 2021 New York Times article “Inside the Long-Lost Brickyards That Built N.Y.C.” provides the current status of the Hutton Brickyard in Kingston, N.Y.
Kingston Daily Freeman. 6 March 1906.
Sometimes the most exciting part of research is field work. I found the location of the former Terry brickyard and went exploring brickyards on Kingston Point. In addition to Ulster County Parcel Viewer and GPS, I asked for advice from a mail person delivering mail near the location. Her recommendation was to walk the Hudson River Brickyard Trail; this was an ideal solution. All of the photos on this page were taken on my adventure today. Until I stood in the water with bricks under my boots, I did not realize how many bricks remain on the bank and submerged in the Hudson. Surrounded with bricks labelled Terry, Shultz, Staples and Hutton, I envisioned the danger of landslides.
I have not yet determined the age of the brick seen at the Frazier House! Stay tuned for more research on bricks and the mighty Hudson River…
