The Kiln in the Garden: Damariscotta River Brick Making and the Traces of Maine's Agro-Industrial

192 Pages·2013·4.01 MB·English

by  Jorgen Cleemann

The Kiln in the Garden: Damariscotta River Brick Making and
the Traces of Maine’s Agro-Industrial Past

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Jørgen G. Cleemann
Historic Preservation Thesis
Professor Andrew S. Dolkart, Advisor
Professors Norman Weiss and Allan S. Gilbert, Readers
June 20, 2012! !
©2012
Jørgen G. Cleemann

All Rights Reserved
Table of Contents
Table of Figures, Maps, and Tables ................................................................................ 3
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... 8
Foreword .......................................................................................................................... 10
Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 24
Chapter 1: How the Bricks Were Made ...................................................................... 38
Chapter 2: The Business of Brick Making .................................................................. 88
Chapter 3: The Traces of the Damariscotta River Brick Making Industry ........... 162
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 182
BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................... 185

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Table of Figures, Maps, and Tables

Figure x. 1. A brick house in Newcastle, Maine. Photo: Author.!.........................................!14!
Figure x. 2. A brick house in Newcastle, Maine. Photo: Author.!.........................................!14!
Figure x. 3. A brick house in Newcastle, Maine. Photo: Author.!.........................................!15!
Figure x. 4. Thick deposit of bricks along the banks of a stream feeding into the
Damariscotta River, Newcastle, Maine. Photo: Author.!.................................................!16!
Figure x. 5. Log cribbing, brickyard on the property of Bob and Margaret Baker,
Newcastle, Maine. Photo: Author.!..........................................................................................!17!
Figure x. 6. This unnaturally flat area was the site of the clay quarry at the Perkins
brickyard, Newcastle, Maine. Photo: Author.!.....................................................................!17!
Figure x. 7. Log cribbing extending a work platform at the base of the wharf, Perkins
brickyard, Newcastle, Maine. Photo: Author.!.....................................................................!18!
Figure x. 8. Stones lining the former wharf, Perkins brickyard, Newcastle, Maine.
Photo: Author.!.................................................................................................................................!18!
Figure x. 9. Bricks on the beach around the wharf, Perkins brickyard, Newcastle, Maine.
Photo: Author.!.................................................................................................................................!19!
Figure x. 10. Bricks on the beach around the wharf, Perkins brickyard, Newcastle, Maine.
Photo: Author.!.................................................................................................................................!19!
Figure x. 11. “Brickyard Beach,” Dodge Point Reserve, Newcastle, Maine. Photo:
Author.!................................................................................................................................................!20!
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Figure i. 1. “The Brick House,” the Perkins family farmstead in Newcastle, ME. Photo:
Author.!................................................................................................................................................!25!

Figure 1. 1. A brickyard near Dyer Brook, Island Falls, Maine. Image courtesy the
Androscoggin Historical Society.!..............................................................................................!41!
Figure 1. 2. Illustrations from the application for a “Clay-Cutter” patented in 1874.
Image Courtesy Google Patents.!................................................................................................!46!
Figure 1. 3. Henry Abbott brickyard on Sturgeon Creek, off the Piscataqua River in Eliot,
Maine, ca. 1885. Photo courtesy the Maine Maritime Museum, Bath, Maine.!........!47!
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Figure 1. 4. A pickaxe head found in the vicinity of the brickyard located on the property
of Bob and Margaret Baker, Newcastle, Maine. Photo courtesy Timothy Dinsmore.
!...............................................................................................................................................................!48!
Figure 1. 5. An advertisement for a “Hobbs’ Improved Brick Machine,” circa 1871.
Image courtesy Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library.!............................................!52!
Figure 1. 6. Illustration from the patent for the Hobbs’ machine, 1870. Image courtesy
Google Patents.!................................................................................................................................!53!
Figure 1. 7. A disused clay mill located at the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts,
Newcastle, Maine. Photo: Author.!..........................................................................................!54!
Figure 1. 8. A butter churn with a central, vertical rotating axis, patented 1808. Image
courtesy Google Patents.!..............................................................................................................!57!
Figure 1. 9. A washing machine with a rotating central axis and interior, projecting,
agitating blades, patented 1830. Image courtesy Google Patents.!.................................!58!
Figure 1. 10. A winnower with central, vertical, rotating axis and interlocking, interior
blades, patented 1810. Image courtesy Google Patents.!...................................................!59!
Figure 1. 11. A Chambers Brothers Company machine. From Appletons’ Cyclopedia of
Applied Mechanics, courtesy Google Books.!........................................................................!61!
Figure 1. 12. A six-brick mold featuring a protective metal covering on one side and a
removable bottom (now missing). From the private collection of Tomlin Coggeshall.
Photo: Author.!.................................................................................................................................!64!
Figure 1. 13. Workers at Nathaniel Bryant’s brickyard, Newcastle, Maine, ca. 1890s.
From the Dinsmore-Flye Photo Collection, Courtesy of the Newcastle Historical
Society, Newcastle, Maine.!.........................................................................................................!65!
Figure 1. 14. Farrington’s “Machine for Turning or Edging Bricks,” patented 1859.
Image courtesy Google Patents.!.................................................................................................!67!
Figure 1. 15. A brick found in the vicinity of the Perkins brickyard, Newcastle, ME,
featuring fingerprints. From the private collection of Tomlin Coggeshall. Photo:
Author.!................................................................................................................................................!68!
Figure 1. 16. A page from the transcript of Lillian Hale’s interview with Alonzo Dodge.
Image courtesy Bob and Margaret Baker and Timothy Dinsmore.!...............................!74!
Figure 1. 17. The wall of the Brick House, Newcastle, Maine. Photo: Author.!..............!75!

Figure 2. 1. Bricks in the cellar pit of the first Perkins Homestead ............................... 121
Figure 2. 2. The Chapman-Hall House, Damariscotta, Maine, 1754 ............................. 122
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Figure 2. 3. The “Brick House,” Newcastle, Maine, ca. 1837 ....................................... 131
Figure 2. 4. The Second Congregational Church, Newcastle, Maine, ca. 1848 ............ 136
Figure 2. 5. Day’s Block, Damariscotta, Maine, ca. 1850 ............................................. 137
Figure 2. 6. Advertisements from The Clay-Worker, January 1896 .............................. 161
Figure 2. 7. Advertisements from The Clay-Worker, January 1896 .............................. 161
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Figure 3. 1. Thompson Ice House, South Bristol, Maine. Photo: Aislinn Sarnacki,
“’Arts, Oddities & Artifacts,’ Kittery journalist compiles Maine’s first museum
book,” Bangor Daily News, last modified July 24, 2011, accessed March 31, 2012,
http://bangordailynews.com/2011/07/24/living/book-reviews/art-oddities-artifacts-
kittery-journalist-compiles-maine’s-first-museum-book/!...............................................!163!
Figure 3. 2. Thick deposit of bricks along the banks of a stream feeding into the
Damariscotta River, Newcastle, Maine. Photo: Author.!...............................................!170!
Figure 3. 3. Log cribbing, brickyard on the property of Bob and Margaret Baker,
Newcastle, Maine. Photo: Author.!........................................................................................!172!
Figure 3. 4. Site of the clay quarry at the Perkins brickyard, Newcastle, Maine. Photo:
Author.!..............................................................................................................................................!173!
Figure 3. 5. Log cribbing extending a work platform at the base of the wharf, Perkins
brickyard, Newcastle, Maine. Photo: Author.!...................................................................!174!
Figure 3. 6. Stones lining the former wharf, Perkins brickyard, Newcastle, Maine.
Photo: Author.!...............................................................................................................................!175!
Figure 3. 7. Bricks on the beach around the wharf, Perkins brickyard, Newcastle, Maine.
Photo: Author.!...............................................................................................................................!177!
Figure 3. 8. Bricks on the beach around the wharf, Perkins brickyard, Newcastle, Maine.
Photo: Author.!...............................................................................................................................!177!
Figure 3. 9. “Brickyard Beach,” Dodge Point Reserve, Newcastle, Maine. Photo:
Author.!..............................................................................................................................................!181!
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Map x. 1. The larger region surrounding the Damariscotta River area, which is indicated
by the red dot. Map courtesy Google Maps 2012.!..............................................................!11!
Map x. 2. The Damariscotta River Region. Map courtesy Google Maps 2012.!...............!11!
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Map x. 3. Map of the Brick House Historic District. Image courtesy the Frances Perkins
Center, Newcastle, Maine.!...........................................................................................................!22!
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Map 3. 1. Map of the Brick House Historic District. Image courtesy the Frances Perkins
Center, Newcastle, Maine.!.........................................................................................................!179!
Map 3. 2. Map of the Brick House Historic District, detail of the brickyard features.
Image courtesy the Frances Perkins Center, Newcastle, Maine.!..................................!179!

Map Set 1. Concentration of Brickyards in Each State or Territory Expressed as a
Percentage of the Total Number of Brickyards in the Continental United States, by
Year ........................................................................................................................... 96
Map Set 2. Percentage of the Total Continental U.S. Brickyard Worker Population
Employed in Each State or Territory, by Year ......................................................... 97
Map Set 3. Value of Each State or Territory's Brick-Making Industry Expressed as a
Percentage of the Total Value of the Continental U.S. Brick-Making Industry, by
Year ........................................................................................................................... 98
Map Set 4. Percentage of the Total Annual Common Brick Output of the Continental
U.S. Produced by Each State and Territory, by Year ............................................... 99
Map Set 5. Value in Dollars of the Annual Products of the Average Brickyard in Each
State and Territory in the Continental U.S., by Year .............................................. 100
Map Set 6. Number of Workers in the Average Brickyard in Each State and Territory in
the Continental U.S., by Year ................................................................................. 101
Map Set 7. Annual Cost in Dollars of Raw Materials In the Average Brickyard in Each
State and Territory in the Continental U.S., by Year .............................................. 102
Map Set 8. Percentage of the Total Number of Steam Engines in Use in Brickyards in
Each State and Territory in 1870 and 1900 ............................................................ 103
Map Set 9. Number of Brickyards in Each County in the State of Maine, by Year ...... 106
Map Set 10. Value in Dollars of the Brick-Making Industry in Each County in the State
of Maine, by Year ................................................................................................... 107
Map Set 11. Number of Brickyard Workers in Each County in the State of Maine, by
Year ......................................................................................................................... 108
Map Set 12. Value in Dollars of the Annual Products of the Average Brickyard in Each
County in the State of Maine, by Year ................................................................... 109
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Map Set 13. Annual Cost in Dollars of Raw Materials in the Average Brickyard in Each
County in the State of Maine, by Year ................................................................... 110
Map Set 14. Number of Workers in the Average Brickyard in Each County in the State
of Maine, by Year ................................................................................................... 111

Table 2. 1. Number of Brick makers in Newcastle, based on the listings in the annually
published Maine Register ....................................................................................... 113

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Acknowledgements
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This thesis would not have been possible without the guidance, assistance, and
support of many remarkable individuals and organizations. My most sincere thanks go to
the people of the Frances Perkins Center—Christopher Breiseth, Tomlin Coggeshall,
Kirstin Downey, Susan Feiner, Laura Fortman, Sarah Peskin, Gretel Porter, Christopher
Rice, Leah Sprague, Elizabeth Wilson—who took me on as their Summer 2011 Research
Fellow. Without them none of this would have been possible. I am especially grateful to
Tomlin Coggeshall and Christopher Rice for making the Brick House such an inviting
place to study and work. Sarah Peskin and William Kelley not only gave me a room of
my own and countless meals, but they also let me tap into their own considerable
professional expertise. For that I have boundless gratitude.
The people of Newcastle-Damariscotta and Maine in general proved amazingly
helpful, enthusiastic, and friendly. Timothy Dinsmore’s archaeological perspective was
indispensable. Bob and Margaret Baker let me explore the former brickyard on their
property, and supplied me with a treasure trove of historical documents. Doreen Conboy
showed me around the Alna Town Vault. I would also like to thank William Bunting,
Carla Dickstein, and Jim Van Dyke.
The assistance of specific individuals from a collection of esteemed institutions
proved essential in assembling the necessary research for this project. I am particularly
indebted to Christi Mitchell and Leith Smith of the Maine Historic Preservation
Commission; Nicholas Noyes and Nancy Noble of the Maine Historical Society; Kelly
Page of the Maine Maritime Museum; and Karla Leandri-Rider of the Museum L-A. I
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was also overwhelmed by the helpfulness of the consummately professional staffs of the
National Archives regional headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts, and the Boston
Public Library.
The professional community that constitutes the historic preservation program at
the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation was,
as always, a constant source of knowledge and inspiration. I cannot begin to thank my
advisor, Professor Andrew Dolkart, for his indefatigable support and inexhaustible
knowledge. This thesis is infinitely better than it might have been were it not also for the
input of my brilliant readers: Professor Norman Weiss of Columbia and Professor Allan
Gilbert of Fordham University. Furthermore, I cannot overstate the role that my
wonderful classmates in the historic preservation program played in making sure that this
project was actually completed.
Finally, I would like to thank my friends and family for tolerating the months of
absent-mindedness and absenteeism. The lovely and talented Beile earns the greatest
thanks of all for never once complaining about the stacks of books and papers that
threatened to consume the living room. You are a queen among women.

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