II. Bricks on the Hudson: Brockway

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.)