Cindi,
For years I wanted a brick path meandering through the back garden. But I didn’t want it to look "new;” I wanted it to look old and weather-worn. As luck would have it, a few years ago I was down at a lumber yard that has been in continuous operation for more than 150 years, on the banks of the Hudson River near where I live. Across the road is an old, crumbling remnant of a brick factory built back in the mid-1800s, typical of those that lined the old waterfront during the industrial revolution. Most evidence of the factory is long-gone, but a few walls are still standing high on a steep hill, beneath an overpass of scenic Route 9, shown here…
At the foot of the old wall lies a lot of rubble, with lots of fallen bricks and bits of mortar. I asked the owner of the lumber yard if he happened to own the land that the old factory was on, and indeed he did. In fact, his family has owned the land for generations. I asked if I could "harvest" some of the bricks, and he said sure - but that I better hurry, because the state was going to purchase the land to make improvements to the nearby overpass structure, shown in the upper corner…
So I spent several weekends that spring climbing up the steep hill, digging out bricks by hand, and hoisting them down to the lumber yard below. There I loaded them up in my SUV and brought them home. I then carried nearly 1,000 of them – 8 at a time – down to the back yard, where I laid them in place to make a path.
The path winds its way all the way from one gate to another.
And here’s a bird’s eye view taken from the second story window.
One of the most interesting things about this project is that about one out of every dozen or so bricks had the company name O’BRIEN stamped onto it, shown here. I began wondering if it were possible to trace the company, so on a lark, I did an internet search, and was amazed to find a website by the name of BrickCollecting.com. It’s devoted to the historical documentation of the Hudson River brickmaking industry. The website features photos of numerous brick designs, including the company names and logos that were often stamped onto bricks. And sure enough, there was a photo of the same O’BRIEN bricks I now have in my backyard. As it turns out, the company was in operation in the nearby village of Verplank during the 1850’s.
Another interesting find on the website was two more brick companies, one named ROSE and another named GARDNER – their bricks are pictured here. Now, if I could just find samples of these two bricks, I could place them side-by-side at the entrance of the pathway, to read ROSE GARDNER!
