Page 8 - North Haven Magazine Issue 8 Spring 2019

“ I am not a geologist or an historian or an industrialist, but I love learning more about my town’s past -
by Susan A. Iverson

and the brick making industry hits all of these topics. I hope this piece inspires you to learn more about
any or all of these subjects! - Sue

e’ve all heard about the glacier that moved down through
WConnecticut, terminating at what we now know as Long Is-
land. This glacier was responsible for depositing tons of material
along its path, including sand and clay. North Haven has lots of
both - in fact, there is a part of North Haven that was once known as
Sandy Acres (see North Haven Historical Society’s recent Facebook
post) and we are even better known for our clay deposits, leading
to the biggest industry North Haven has known - the brick mak-
ing industry. But driving around town one really doesn’t see much
evidence of the brick makers of the past, except for the stray brick
half-buried in our gardens, or the large number of brick buildings
here. Where were these brick yards? How were bricks made? Who
was involved in their production? Are bricks still made here? I had
to learn more...

The first mention of brick making in North Haven was in Na-
thaniel Thorpe’s estate inventory; his brother Moses supposedly in-
herited “the brick yard” sometime in the late 17th century. The first
brick dwelling here was built in 1759 - the owner was Joel Bassett,
and the house was located near the junction of Washington Avenue
and I-91. (Sadly the home was torn down early in the 20th cen-
tury.) Brick making was hardly big business in early North Haven
- farmers often chose to produce small amounts, particularly if they had access to a clay deposit on their land. Making bricks really only
required two workers; one to pack the brick molds and one to carry the molds to an open area for drying. After being dumped from the
molds, they would dry in the sun until set. Once set the bricks would be fired in a shed or kiln until thoroughly dry. The high silt content
of North Haven clay required a very thorough firing, probably using lots of fuel wood for the process. By the late 1700s there were twelve
brick yards in town - four along the Muddy River, and several more on the west side of the Quinnipiac River. But this part-time industry
was about to blossom - thanks to the churches in town!

In the 1830s both St. John’s Episcopal Church and North Haven Con-
gregational Church were planning to build new churches, and both were
going to be built of brick. The Congregational Church used brick sup-
plied by Jesse Andrews’ Brick Yard (he also ran the tavern on the corner
of Broadway and Church Street) while St. John’s obtained their brick from
the Stiles Brick Yard, also nearby. Stiles made brick, but not enough to
build such a large structure, so they purchased brick from other yards in
town. These two projects were a big boost to the brick making industry,
and it only grew from there. By 1860 the census lists 75 brick yard work-
ers in North Haven, many of them recent immigrants from famine-rav-
aged Ireland. In addition to seeing the growth of an industry, North Hav-
en was also experiencing the diversification of its population.

By 1880, small brick yards were closing and the remaining few were
growing - most notable were the Montowese Brick Company on Quin-
nipiac Avenue, Brockett and Todd, and IL Stiles Brick Company in the
center of town. Isaac Stiles welcomed his son Frank back to the company
and subsequently became the biggest producer in town. The main shed
was 500 feet by 70 feet and could store 4 million bricks; it was filled and
emptied three times each year. By 1890 machines run by steam engines
dug the clay and molded the brick. After drying for several days 500,000

8 North Haven Magazine - Spring 2019