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BDN MAINE SPECIAL SECTION • BANGORDAILYNEWS.COM • February 28, 2013
A DAY IN THE LIFE: BREWER
Legendary Brewer Bricks About 500 million years ago, the bedrock that underlays Brewer was formed when the ancient continents of Laurasia and Avalon collided, buying ocean sediment that became rock. Then, about 40,000 years ago, a mile-thick receding glacier that covered much of the state carved out the landscape. The bedrock was exposed, and so was clay of a quality unlike anywhere else — not even across the river in Bangor. That clay was ideal for brick-making, and Brewer bricks became famous. Before 1850, three Brewer businesses made bricks: Ivory and Elbridge Harlow; Edward and Robert Holyoke; and Nathanuel Swett. The Harlow business, with 600,000 bricks per year, was the largest.
Photo courtesy of Richard Shaw
Harrison N. Brooks, John Elmer Littlefield, and Dr. George Tibbetts bought the 35-acre Hugh O’Brien brickyard at the end of Maple Street in 1906 and launched the Brooks Brick Yard. Note the two-wheeled Brewer Brick Cart at the left, which made moving bricks much easier.
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Over the next half-century, explosive urban growth along the East Coast saw Brewer producing 12 million bricks annually at 12-15 brickyards. There were 18-19 brickmakers at its peak before bricks ebbed in popularity. By 1930 just
one was left. One brickmaker, Hellier, was established in 1825 and made bricks up until World War I, when the war effort which demanded up to 90 percent of Brewer’s bricks, mostly for airports. According to an article in the Feb. 12, 1859 edition of Scientific American, Brewer resident Frank O. Farrington patented a machine for edging and turning bricks, certainly the result of the sheer volume of bricks the town was turning out. It’s said that Brewer’s bricks built a lot of Boston, particularly following the great fire of 1872 in Boston. Reportedly, most of Boston’s Back Bay and South End are built of Brewer brick. One latecomer to brickmaking remains today. Getchell Bros., long known for ice harvesting on the Penobscot, launched a brickyard in 1906. With electric power and state-of-the-art brick machines, the company produced 50,000 bricks per production day, averaging 3 million per year. —David M. Fitzpatrick, Special Sections