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Brighton
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Brighton NY, on the banks of the Genesee River, was born of the glacier. The recessional departure of the glacier left, beneath the melting rivers of icy water, on the flatlands south of the Pinnacle Range, a shallow layer of clay. These clay deposits were mined along with the adjoining banks of sand, which together provided the material necessary for the basic industry of Brickmaking. The kiln fires lit up the skies of our small town for 120 years in the summer evenings. |
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The Brighton Brickyards were as follows: 1...Gideon
Cobb Brickyard..1818-1853
First in Brick Manufacture, in Brighton |
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Map of Brighton...............showing yard location |
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Background Information To Map Page I will start with three quotes which establish the origin of the Brighton Brick Industry. “The heart of the Rochester Tract was at the intersection of Buffalo (Main) and Carroll (State) Streets, and it was on lot number one, now occupied by Powers Block, that Henry Skinner was obliged, by his deed, to build and erect a dwelling house not less than twenty by thirty feet, with brick or stone chimney, on or before the first day of January, 1812. The presumption that in the wilderness, brick and stone chimneys could be built, was probably because of acquaintance of Nathaniel Rochester with the elegant brickwork of Maryland in his time, and the fact that mud and splat chimneys were always a menance to pioneer habitations. In 1811 there was not a single family on the west side of the river, and only three on the east side and naturally, no brickyards or lime kilns. However a mud chimney was built, and the Scrantom family moved across the river into the Skinner log cabin on July 4, 1812.” from “ Centennial History of Rochester, New York” Volume II Home Builders “Architecture in Rochester” page 267
from "Architecture in Rochester"...page 287: "Gideon started a brickyard or rather a few brick had been made, and young Cobb seeing the possibilities took over the incipient (definition of incipient = only partly in existence), business and proceeded to enlarge it. It was near the site of the old yard near the twelve corners operated until a year or two ago." from: Newspaper Article: in The Poet Express June 20, 1920; I have used the three quotes above to set the background for establishing the starting time for operation of the Brighton Brickyards. There seems to be no certainly in the Rochester historical record as to where and when brickmaking began. The brickmakers have been securely identified but the dates of operation require some speculation So possibly 1817 is the origin of Gideon Cobb brick manufacture, followed by 1822 for the Buckland family , then followed by Isaac Moore in 1823. Edwin Wilson, Alvin Burton and Robert Irwin enter manufacturing in the 1830's, possibly in close association with original three. Jason Baker and Jonathan Town arrive in the 1840's and 1850's. The first industrial consolidation is achieved by the finances of William Otis, who purchased three yards and operated them as the Rochester Brick & Tile Company. John Weis, in 1860's establishes a brickyard on property adjacent to that owned by Isaac Moore and Abner Buckland which develops into the German Brick & Tile Company and the Rochester Clay Brick & Tile Company. All participants in brickmaking must have been connected, for the land area used for brickmaking is small, adjacent and with time must have been confined. The process of burning clay to produce brick was a very, very dirty procedure and close neighbors must have objected to the polluted air. The interrelationships of brickmakers and land can only be guessed at for there exists a minimum of recorded testimony.
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