From collection J. E. Perkins Collection
Untitled
Image of brickyard workers standing in their brickyard. Visible in image: Nine brickmakers stand in the middle of a brickyard. One holds a shovel, one an empty barrow, one a hand cart stacked with molds, and one appears to be sitting in a barrow. To the right and left of the brickmen are stacks of molded bricks drying in the sun before firing. The green, i.e. soft, bricks are arranged in rows of single height to dry in the sun. Amid them are stacks of partially-dry bricks, some of which are protected by angular roofs. A stack of unused roofs sits in the back of the brickyard. At the head of the rows of green bricks at left sits a Hobbs pug mill, which mixed dug clay and pressed it into wooden forms to shape the bricks. To operate these mills, horses were hitched to the long arms on top and walked in a circle. The arms of two other Hobbs mills are visible just above the bushes in front; a fourth mill stands at far right. Behind the rows of bricks stands the shed the protects the kiln as it is build up in preparation for firing. The shed is only partially roofed. The rectangular stacks under the shed are probably parts of the kiln being built up. Next to the shed and at the back left corner of the brickyard are stacks of wood to fire the kiln, and a four-wheeled wagon to haul it. A two-masted schooner with sails furled is moored in the river beyond the kiln shed.
