The working waterfront of coastal Maine invites endless possibilities for commerce, from the traditional and time-honored fishing industries, to shipbuilding and other businesses located on the waterfront. In between are industries using the natural resources on the land, such as saltwater farms. On the Damariscotta River in Newcastle, one family farmed their land, and established a family brickyard that supplied bricks to area businesses. Because of the good quality clay on the banks, the plentiful wood for firing the kilns, and ready availability of water for not only building the bricks, but also for transporting them, this was an ideal location for the industry.
Jørgen Cleeman, a graduate student in the historic preservation program at Columbia University, spent this past summer researching the brickmaking industry on the Damariscotta River as part of his thesis. He was invited by the Frances Perkins Center as their first summer research fellow. The Center is located in “The Brick House,” which was built from the bricks made by the family brickyard.
Jørgen says that although the family brickyard may have been developed as early as 1740, when Lemuel Perkins settled on the land, the business peaked in the 1830s. By 1900, when for various reasons bricks weren’t used as much for building houses, the industry faded away.
In any case, brickmaking was secondary to farming. At one point, the Perkins family “most likely would have considered themselves farmers first, and brick makers second,” according to Jørgen. “For example, in 1860, the Perkins farm was producing Indian corn, peas, potatoes, barley, and hay. Their livestock included four horses, eight milk cows, six oxen, and four pigs.” Brickmaking was seasonal, and just of many ways to make a living, in true Maine fashion.
Brickmaking, for many along the river, was a fairly simple operation, which is why it proved popular. Jørgen says, “In 1878, when the industry was close to its peak of production, there were as many as 18 brickyards in operation in Newcastle alone.”
Jørgen has been most fortunate to find primary sources at The Brick House, including the logbooks of Edmund Perkins (1808-1892). These logbooks, which Jørgen calls “indispensable,” record nearly all of the relevant details of each and every brick sale: the date, the number of bricks sold, the buyer, and the cost. Jørgen supplemented his research with other materials, including those found at the Maine Historical Society.
Today the remnants of the brickmaking industry can still be seen along the river—indeed the bricks themselves can be found along the riverfront as evidence of the once-thriving industry. In this case, the Perkins family built their own home with the bricks in 1837, and also shipped the bricks they manufactured to others, down the Damariscotta River.