ROCKLAND
BRICK INDUSTRY
Lower Hudson in the early 1900s, showing several major
brickyards and docks.
Source: Town Line: The Magazine of Rockland County, Winter 2000
Brick Manufacturers in Haverstraw in 1910
Large deposits of clay in the Hudson River saw the beginning of brick manufacturing in Haverstraw in 1771. Haverstraw became the brick-making center of the east in 1817 when James Wood discovered that coal dust could be mixed with clay, reducing the price of bricks. At one time, the town of Haverstraw had over 42 brickyards. In 1852, a fresh impetus was added to the industry by Richard VerValen's invention of the automatic brick machine. For the next 75 years, North Rockland was the source of building for the colossal growth of New York City. Haverstraw provided 90% of the bricks that were used in the construction of New York city buildings prior to 1920s.Brickmaking factories along the Hudson in Haverstraw were Irish owned and with labor that was performed by their Irish immigrant brothers. Another part of the County's history lies in the development of the Palisades Interstate Park system established in response to an ever-increasing degree of stone quarrying on the Palisades ridge in Nyack and Haverstraw.
1906 Haverstraw Landslide
Source: Town Line: The Magazine of Rockland County, Winter 2000
Haverstraw
Landslide
In January 1906, 800 feet of the ground beneath two streets of houses and stores
close to the river collapsed due to years of over excavation of clay
bricks directly beneath these buildings .This great disaster claimed the lives
of 19 people and 21 homes as well as starting a fire that destroyed a half-mile
portion of the village. Several years of over-production and sharp declines in
prices were followed by the use of steel and concrete in construction rather
than bricks. The depression of the 1930s struck the final blow.
Source: TownLine: The Magazine of Rockland County, Winter 2000
Rockland
County Bicentennial, 1798-1998, Feb. 21, 1998
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