Building from the Hudson Valley, brick-by-brick
photo by niki@hvny.info
The Empire State Building. The arches of the Brooklyn Bridge. The Museum of Natural History. What do these city structures all have in common?
They were all built with bricks made right here in the Hudson Valley.
Ice Age glaciers deposited huge amounts of clay along the banks of the Hudson River. This became an important resource for settlers, and from the late 1700s to the mid-1900s, the local economy was bustling with more than 135 brickyards lining the shores of the Hudson River to supply NYC’s increasing industrial demand.
Haverstraw, on the west bank of the river in Rockland County, became the brick-making capital of the world (thanks to Richard A. Ver Valen’s invention of an automatic brick-making machine in 1852), and reportedly shipped out over 300 million bricks to the New York City area annually – until 1906, when a landslide caused by the excavation of material to make those bricks killed 19 people and destroyed many area homes and businesses.
Today, the only intact brick-making buildings remain standing at the region’s longest running brick plant: Hutton Brickyards in Kingston, now a luxe retreat site and host of special events.
The Hutton Company in 1948. Today, one of the site’s most popular events is Field and Supply, a maker’s market.
Learn more about the Hudson Valley’s once-booming brick industry with Thomas Rinaldi and Robert Yasinsac during a special hybrid lecture hosted by the Hudson River Maritime Museum from 7-9pm on Wednesday, December 13, 2023. During the event, Rinaldi and Yasinsac, the creators of the 2016-17 New York State Museum exhibit “40 Hudson River Bricks,” will highlight brickyard ruins as well as notable ruins constructed from local bricks. The lecture will take place online via Zoom, and at the HRMM Wooden Boat School on the Rondout. Cost is $7, free for HRMM members. Click here to register for the 12/13/23 lecture: “Bricks and Brick Ruins of the Hudson Valley”
BONUS:
Hike the 1.9-mile Hudson River Brickyard Trail (part of the Empire State Trail and the Kingston Greenline): https://kingstongreenline.org/HudsonRiverBrickyardTrail Parking is at Kingston Point Beach. Winter hours are posted from 7:00am-5:00pm.
Test your brick-laying knowledge: http://brickmuseumlearning.org/brick_game.html
