From Fred Rieck: "The "A.E.A." brickmark "ties" into Aaron E. Aldridge, a brick manufacturer located in Dutchess Junction. A.E.A. is listed in city directories as early as 1887. I can't tell you just when the A.E.A. marked brick actually came into production. A later, 1896 directory entry lists Aaron as being affiliated with Aldridge Brothers (a/k/a Aldridge Brothers & Company), also brick manufacturers - the brother likely being George L. Aldridge. Aldridge Bros. Co. is listed as early as 1890

Bricks marked A.B.C (the letter C having a unique segmented form), have been found comingled with ALDRIDGE scrap. There are several manufacturers that marked their brick with "A B C" making it difficult to ID them with out seeing the them."

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"Daniel Aldridge resided in Mudhole, NY (which is now known as Roseton, NY). Daniel is thought to have moved to Newburgh, NY, sometime between 1810 and 1817, due to the fact that his wife was from there. One of his sons was Thomas Aldridge born in 1818 and died August, 1892. Thomas bought a farm near Fishkill Landing, NY in the fall of 1853 which later became the 'ABC' (Aldridge Brothers & Company) Brickyard in Dutchess Junction, NY." (SOURCE: Steven Blair Aldridge Family Home Page)

Thomas' son Aaron Ennis Aldridge was born on January 19, 1851 in Balmville, near Newburgh, NY. He worked with his father at the Dutchess Junction brickyard and when his father moved to Chelsea, Aaron took over. He became one of the leading figures in the brick industry, was president of the Thomas Aldridge Brick and Land Company and also served as vice-president of the Greater New York Brick Company. He was prominent as a manufacturer and still more so as a selling agent in New York City where he had offices in the Times Square Building. From there he handled the output of many yards along the river. He was recognized throughout the country as an authority on brick making and the brick market. He died in 1925 in Beacon, NY. (SOURCE: Sullivan, James, History of New York State, 1523-1927, [Vol. 6] 1873-1931.)

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From Sloops of The Hudson, by: William E. Verplanck and Moses W. Collyer, G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York & London, 1908:
"Among the sloops of Fishkill on Newburgh bay were the Commodore Jones, and the New Jersey, which were owned by the late Thomas Aldridge, who had extensive brickyards at Dutchess Junction."

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For Our New DUTCHESS JUNCTION Page:
CLICK HERE

More information on
Poughkeepsie brickmaking.

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From The History of New York State, Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1927, Biographies, Part 6:

Brewster J. Allison was born July 5, 1821. He attended the Stony Point District School and the Peekskill Military Academy, where he took up the study of surveying. After graduating from Peekskill Academy, for the first few years he engaged solely in engineering, but later became interested in farming and the manufacture of brick, and owned extensive property interests in the town of Stony Point. There were no incorporated villages in the town, but there were, however, several centers of population, called variously villages, "corners" or hamlets. Largest of these was Stony Point, which lies close to the southern boundary of the town. The large Allison homestead, built in 1821, is now occupied by Mr. Allison's son, Ralph D. Allison. Perhaps the oldest house in this village, known for many decades as the Alexander Waldron place, is owned and occupied by Mr. Allison's daughter, Mrs. Frances Bontecou. The construction of this home antedates the Revolution, and the house, like the town, figured in the history of that war. About 1850, twenty years before the place then known as Florus Falls became the village of Stony Point, one Theodore Smith caused his farm to be surveyed in village lots and blocks, and called it the village of Brewsterville, after his wife's family name. So is the name Brewster perpetuated; and the name Tomkins, likewise, in Tomkins Cove.

Brewster J. Allison was one of the outstanding men of his time in county and town. He held many town offices, served on State committees on roads and bridges and towns and villages, was a member of the town school board, town superintendent of schools from 1848 to 1853, and was member of the Legislature, in 1850. Brewster J. Allison was a communicant of the Presbyterian Church, and for a long period as elder. He was a generous, talented, friendly man, beloved of his associates in business and society; and his loss was widely and sincerely regretted.

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A note from Shirley Burris: "The Brockway Brick Company was founded by Edwin Brockway, my great, great grandfather, who bought the property and moved his family from Haverstraw. Following his death, his children, Charles LaRue Brockway, Frank, Fannie and I think there was another, inherited the property. My Grandmother, Esther Lydia Brockway Lewis and her siblings were born in the "big house" on the property."

For a great web page on the Brockway Brick Yard, Click here.

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From "The History of New York State Biographies," Part 21, Editor, Dr. James Sullivan ,Online Edition by Holice, Deb & Pam:

William L. Howland was born in Mechanicsville, November 28, 1864.... Mr. Howland is treasurer of the Cary Brick Company, and has been its general manger since 1924; is president of the Mechanicsville Associates; president of the Mechanicsville Improvement Company; president of the Half-Moon Light, Heat & Power Company; vice-president of the Brick Homes Company of New York City; director of the Mechanicsville Co-operative Savings & Loan Association; and a director of the Common Brick Manufacturers' Association of America.

(from an ad in "The Bridgewater Book," 1899)
The small print:
"Member of Master Builders' Exchange, 166 Devonshire Street, Boston.
Office and Works : Five minutes' walk south of Titicut Station. Post-office : State Farm, Mass."

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From a listing of brick mfgr's for MA:
C.B. Cook - Adams, MA
C.B. Cook - North Adams, MA 1879
E.L. Cook - State Farm, MA 1895 - 1908
E.L. Cook - Bridgwater, MA 1909 - 1917
E.L. Cook - State Farm, MA 1920 - 1932
(SOURCE: Jim Graves)

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First settled in 1630 as an outgrowth of the Plimoth and Duxbury plantation, the Town of East Bridgewater was an early industrial inland town located on the northern portion of the Taunton River system. Its early economy was based on agriculture but the community did have both grist and sawmills, iron forges and tanneries. The late 19th and early 20th century saw residential development along the trolley lines in the community.The Loucraft brickyard covered the area known in the 1600’s as the Devil’s Hop Yard, where early settlers had their homes. Joseph and his son razed about 10-12 feet of the area to extract clay for bricks. And they ran a boarding house, too, for lots of their Canadian labourers."
(SOURCE: http://www.lucraft.org/2005/10/quebecois-family.html)

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Bridgewater Brickyard Burned
The NY Times, July 2, 1898

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Brick production was Bridgewater's most prominent industry, and still is to this day. Established in 1886 and now with over 100 years of experience, the Stiles and Hart Brick Company remains the only brick manufacturer in Massachusetts.

The Stiles and Hart Conservation Area has the remains of the original brick factory as well as many piles of bricks scattered throughout the property. This 75-acre site was an agricultural fairground with a grand exhibition hall from c1820- 1875. In 1895, a local teacher, Mr. William Basset, Sr., purchased the land and founded the Bridgewater Brick Company. The company mined clay and produced bricks on the site. In 1913, Stiles & Hart Brick Company purchased the operation. Due damage to buildings in the hurricane of 1938, brick production ceased, but clay mining continued until after World War II. The site has been recommended as a National Register District by the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

It is interesting to note that Stiles & Hart purchased the machinery of the defunct West Barnstable Brick Co and Stiles & Hart is located today at 127 Cook Street in Bridgewater.

History of the Stiles and Hart Brick Company

Stiles and Hart in Our Collection

SOURCES:
The Whelden Library
Answers.com: Bridgewater
The Natural Resources Trust of Bridgewater
Lucraft and Luckraft One-name Study: A Quebecois Family
DylanStiles.com

1890: Emily Denning Van Rensselaer’s daughter Emily left the Denning mansion. Brick workers’ families moved into the mansion.

1920s: the Denning mansion was in ruins, but the brickyards were in their heyday under the management of David Strickland.

1939: the Denning’s Point Brick Works pulled out of their original home and moved a few miles north to Brockway to find new sources of clay.

Today, one can still find bricks with "DPBW" (Denning’s Point Brick Works) imprinted on them.

(Source: Robert J. Murphy and Denise Doring Van Buren. 2003. Images of America: Beacon Revisited. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Press..)
(http://www.nynjctbotany.org/lgtofc/beacontown.html):

"Today, there are few vestiges of this once flourishing industry other than one of the original yards of the Champlain Brick Co. opened in 1897, and a water pipe connecting the city water mains with the old Ferris-Duffney yards dating back to the beginning of this century."

Duffney Brick Co., New Road to Stillwater,
William H. Duffney, Mgr.
William H. Duffney, Jr., Supt.
Miles J. Duffney, Supt., Champlain Brick Co.

EVERETT FOWLER. The brick business is one of the principal industries of Rockland County, and the men who have engaged in it have almost invariably gained success. As a representative of this class mention should be made of Everett Fowler, who is superintendent of the Excelsior Brick Company and of D. Fowler & Son. The former concern has a capacity of sixteen million of brick and gives employment to eighty or ninety men, while the latter company employs seventy or eighty men, with a capacity in its output of twelve million.

In the village of Haverstraw, where he still resides, Mr. Fowler was born December 26, 1854, and in the schools of this place obtained a fair business education; he afterwards attended, and was graduated from, the Thirty-fifth Street Grammar School in New York. At the age of eighteen he became bookkeeper for his father, and three years later he began in business for himself, opening a brickyard near his present location. After four years there, in 1880, he became a member of the firm of D. Fowler & Son, and has since managed the valuable plant of this company. When the Excelsior yards were purchased, he became a partner in the enterprise, of which he is now superintendent. His entire attention from early youth has been devoted to the manufacture of brick, and he has been unusually successful in this occupation. He has made a study of the business, and at different times has visited nearly all the brickyards in the United States, gaining from a close observation of their methods practical ideas for the management of his own yards.

In April, 1880, Mr. Fowler married Miss Anna S. Denison, granddaughter of Major Suffern, and a daughter of P. and Anna (Suffern) Denison. Four children were born to our subject and wife: John E.; Catherine; Denison, who died at the age of four years; and Denton. Mrs. Fowler is a member of the Central Presbyterian Church, of which Dr. Freeman is pastor. In social circles Mr. Fowler is highly esteemed, and he is one of the active members of the Bicycle Club.

The History of New York State Biographies, states: "In 1922 the name of the company was changed to that of Philip Goldrick & Sons, and Mr. Goldrick, who is the last survivor of the original brick manufacturers on the Hudson, continues as head of the concern, while his son, Thomas Goldrick, acts as production manager, and another son, Merton Goldrick, is in charge of sales and finance"

A comment from Fred Rieck: "Perhaps the GGG's were mixed in stock that was transported from Haverstraw to the Goldrick's Landing/Rider Park area when Goldrick moved his entire operation out of Haverstraw in 1906." For much more info see GOLDRICK (below).

=In 1887 Philip Goldrick operated Yard #39 in Haverstraw. Yard #38 was operated by Johnson & Meyers and Clark & Goldrick.
In 1896 Philip Goldrick operated Yard #10 which was owned by M.A. Archer.
(Source: Haverstraw Brick Museum)

=On Jan 17, 1903 a brick census (inventory) was taken in the Haverstraw area and Philip Goldrick had 30 Arches with 1,400,000 brick on hand.
(Rockland County Messenger, Jan 22, 1903)

=Goldrick was patentee of a Roof for Drying Sheds

=From: The History of New York State Biographies, Part 12
Editor, Dr. James Sullivan, Online Edition by Holice, Deb & Pam:

A leader in the commercial and civic life of Kingston and vicinity, Philip Goldrick is one of the pioneer manufacturers who inaugurated the industry of brick-making in the Hudson River Valley, an industry which has been one of the principal factors in the material development of this district. Mr. Goldrick removed his entire organization to Kingston in 1906, and established the thriving settlement of Goldrick's Landing (town of Ulster), erecting his factories and brickyards, which produce thirty million bricks per year. He built homes accommodating two hundred and fifty employees, all houses of the most modern and improved design and equipment, opened mercantile stores and built a beautiful and impressive Roman Catholic church; in every conceivable manner, taking the deepest interest in the welfare and progress of his employees and the residents of the locality. His remarkable planning and foresight have made this a model community, whose inhabitants are noted for their industrious qualities and the intelligent and active interest which they display in issues concerning town or commonwealth.

Mr. Goldrick was born in Haverstraw, October 22, 1850, son of John and Rose Goldrick, both of whom were born and married in Ireland. John Goldrick came to the United States early in life and became superintendent of construction in the employ of some of the large brick factories of this section.

Philip Goldrick was educated in the public schools of Stony Point, and after the completion of his formal education, followed in his father's footsteps and entered the brick business in which he has been continuously engaged ever since. his thorough attention to all the details of this industry and his keen perception and expert managerial ability caused him to succeed from the first, and in 1880, he established brickyards in Rockland County, on Haverstraw Bay, operating this large enterprise with a production of twelve million bricks annually. The business continued at that location for many years, giving employment to a great number of people in the vicinity, but in 1906, owing to the diminishing clay deposits, Mr. Goldrick moved the entire plant to Kingston and proceeded to develop the settlement which bears his name. In 1922 the name of the company was changed to that of Philip Goldrick & Sons, and Mr. Goldrick, who is the last survivor of the original brick manufacturers on the Hudson, continues as head of the concern, while his son, Thomas Goldrick, acts as production manager, and another son, Merton Goldrick, is in charge of sales and finance. The organization ships brick by barges to New York City, maintaining its own fleet of boats, and for many years has been the largest individual manufacturer in the valley, producing red building brick exclusively. Mr. Goldrick is active in all civic and social affairs, and is a leading member of Kingston Lodge, No. 675, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His religious adherence is given to the Roman Catholic church.

Philip Goldrick married, January 14, 1877, at Stony Point, Cecelia Brennan, born at Tompkins Cove, daughter of Murtha and Mary Brennan, and to this union were born seven children. Two died in infancy, and the others are: 1. Philip R., the oldest son, who died in 1906. 2. John, who died in 1918; married Joan Dwyer, of Kingston, and had one daughter, Nan. 3. Rose L. Lewis, who died in 1924; she had two children, Rose Cecile and Margery. 4. Thomas Francis, born April 9, 1886, at Haverstraw, graduated from Haverstraw High School, became associated with his father in the brick business, and is now production manager of the partnership; he married Jane Keating, of Kingston, daughter of John J,. Keating; he is a fourth degree Knights of Columbus, member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 675, Kingston, and of the Kingston Club, 5. Merton L., born December 11, 1890, at Haverstraw; graduated from Haverstraw High School, and Spencer's business college, later entering Packard's College, New York City, where he studied banking and finance; entered the brick business as a youth and as paymaster of his father's firm at the age of eighteen; is a director of Rondout National Bank; director Kingston Rotary Club, director New York District Common Brick Association, and is a member of the American Legion, Knights of Columbus, Kingston Club, the Palenville Country Club; he finds great recreation in outdoor sports, among which golf is his favorite, while he is an expert sailor and yachtsman."

Thomas Francis Goldrick, born April 9, 1886, at Haverstraw, graduated from Haverstraw High School, became associated with his father (Philip) in the brick business, and is now production manager of the partnership; he married Jane Keating, of Kingston, daughter of John J,. Keating; he is a fourth degree Knights of Columbus, member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 675, Kingston, and of the Kingston Club.

In 1922 the name of the (Goldrick) company was changed to that of Philip Goldrick & Sons, and Mr. Goldrick, who is the last survivor of the original brick manufacturers on the Hudson, continues as head of the concern, while his son, Thomas Goldrick, acts as production manager, and another son, Merton Goldrick, is in charge of sales and finance.

"Matthew J. Gormley, a former brick manufacturer, died May 25 at his son's home in Garnerville, N.Y. He was 86 years old and lived in Haverstraw, N.Y.

Mr. Gormley, a graduate of Fordham Preparatory School in the Bronx, was general manager of the Gormley Brick Yards and was one of the last of the Haverstraw brick makers. His bricks were used in the construction of the state prison at Ossining, N.Y., as well as the buildings at Graymoor, the Roman Catholic institution in Garrison, N.Y.

The last shipment of Gormley bricks was sent to New York City by boat on April 13, 1938. Mr. Gormley then became a general contractor for the Army during the construction of Camp Shanks, at Orangeburg, N.Y., a major point of embarkation for troops during World War II.

He is survived by his wife, Gertrude; two sons, Matthew, of Arlington, Va., and Thomas, of Garnerville, and five grandchildren."

Site of the GORMLEY yard in Montrose, now George's Island Park

GORMLEY and Bellefuille bricks on the shore at George's Island Park

1900 directory indicates ... boarding and sale of horses a specialty, also farmers sheds, (and) Brickyard: 21 Catharine St. In the 1903-04 directory, he is no longer listed as having a brick affiliation The 1906-07 directory indicates an Ellsworth Craft is occupying the 21 Catharine St. address. Haight residing at 48 Academy.

I never found a specific location for Haight's brickyard although I suspect it was somewhere around "Brick Yard Hill" in what is now Arlington. There is a Haight Ave. in that vicinity where Rts 44 and 55 diverge.

There were three (3) William H. Haights in Poughkeepsie after Haight the bricker and liveryman moved in. Those other Haights were machinists - father and son Haight weren't in the brick business very long.

There were a couple of pallets of used HAIGHTS between buildings between Main and Mill Sts. which may have fallen off a building wall in that area. These bldgs have been knocked down. None of the HAIGHT brick I've seen ever had a nice surface finish. Letters all were more difficult to read.

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Webmaster Notes--
Other Poughkeepsie brickyards included: Otis Allen & George H. Terwilliger (A & T); Isaac P. Flagler & Otis Allen (F & A); Allen, Townsend & Mack (A T & M); Norton I. Pennock (NIP, PENNOCK); Poughkeepsie Brick Corp (PB CORP); Hyland R Rose (HRR); Towey Brick Co (TOWEY); and WN Wetterau (WETTARAU).

Poughkeepsie, NY is rich in history. One of its notable citizens was Matthew Vassar who founded Vassar College in 1861.

The Vassar Family emigrated from England to America in 1796 and established a farm in the Poughkeepsie area, overlooking the Hudson River. James Vassar made the transition from farming to running family businesses in the early 1800’s, founding a brickyard on their property and soon thereafter starting a brewery operation. He and his wife had two sons who grew up in the family businesses.

In 1836 Matthew Vassar "commissioned a new waterfront brewery, which became the largest in the United States at the time, measuring 200 by 50 feet and producing 50,000 barrels of beer each year. While many businesses suffered during the 1837 depression, M. Vassar & Co. flourished due to an ongoing demand for ale. He also ran a brickyard which manufactured "large and beautiful pressed bricks" known as "Poughkeepsie Stretchers."

Matthew Jr.’s widow, Irene Beech Vassar, inspired by Florence Nightingale, a well-known reformist nurse in Great Britain, set out to find a location for a new hospital and chose a piece of property on what was then the outskirts of Poughkeepsie. The 14-acre property had a perfect view of the river, pleasant grounds and therapeutic breezes -- perfect for patients and their recovery. Vassar Brothers Hospital opened its doors on April 11, 1887. The main building component was, of course, Vassar bricks.

"James F. Dwyer, son of Denis and Johanna (O'Brien) Dwyer, was born in Kingston, May 26, 1859, and received his education in the public schools of Kingston, which, however, he left while quite a young lad, and engaged in the boating business on the canals, lakes and rivers of New York and other States. In 1887 he and his brother, Robert J. Dwyer, established a ship chandler's store in West Strand, where, in addition to the handling of ships' supplies, they also built boats, mostly barges and scows many of which operated themselves. Of both branches of the business Mr. Dwyer has been half owner since the death of his brother in 1925. The concern was incorporated in that year, just before the death of the brother, under the name of Dwyer Brothers, Incorporated, and at the present time (1928) they are also operators and owners of the following industries: The R. Lenahan Company, boat and barge builders; the Kingston Brick & Ice Company; Wilbur Sand Company; Hanrahan Brick & Ice Company; Dwyer Brothers Ship Chandlery, and the Arrow Ice Company.

"Francis Pixley began his career in ceramic engineering by working summers at the Jova Brick Company with his young cousins. The brick company was founded by Fran's grandfather, Juan Jacinto Jova, in the late 1800s. According to family legend, Grandfather Jova came from Cuba to New York City as a sugar broker, then moved up the Hudson River to Roseton, N.Y., where he had hoped to raise sugar cane. When that venture failed, he built his brick plant. The Jova family mansion was torn down to get the clay on which it stood. The grand pillars that supported the veranda of the house now stand in the sculpture garden of the Storm King Museum in Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y."
(From Remembering Pix by ceramic engineer Francis V. Pixley, co-founder of Kil-Tel Systems Inc.)

Webmaster Notes:
The Storm King web site confirms: "The five Ionic columns now situated on the Art Center's property formed the front of Danskammer...the 1834 Edward Armstrong mansion located north of Newburgh that stood overlooking the Hudson River for almost 100 years."

George Hutton, in The Great Hudson River Brick Industry, states: "Juan Jova began his business career in the city as a young man, in 1874 buying a large Greek revival granite house (Danskammer) on a sizeable piece of land four miles north of Newburgh. After leaving the sugar business, it was there that he began brickmaking in 1884, at what was to become known as Roseton...The Jovas had their origins in Catalonis, the northeastern province of Spain, which was known for its industrious and resourceful people, as well as being a principal source of entrepreneurs for the Spanish colonies."

Jova bought the mansion from the Armstrong family. Maitland Armstrong (see below) scoffed at "the brick-yards, scarring the landscape and even gnawing away our lawns and gardens." Our research finds that in 1905 a Mr. E. Maitland Armstrong ran the Arrow Brick Co. , located on Danskammer Point and produced 5 million brick.

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"DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY: REMINISCENCES OF A VARIED LIFE"
MAITLAND ARMSTRONG (1836-1918) describes what it was like to live at Duyvil's Danskammer (the Devil's Dancechamber). Here's an excerpt:

"At that time, before the brick-yards came, scarring the landscape and even gnawing away our lawns and gardens, the situation was beautiful, crowning a wooded plateau, with a sweeping view across Newburgh bay to the Highlands. We had a delightful bathing-beach of firm white sand, now of course swallowed up by the West Shore Railroad, and a dock where large vessels could land. The river was very gay in those pre-railway days, dotted with hundreds of sails, sloops, and schooners plying between New York and Albany.

After my father bought Danskammer he added to it various farms until he had a river-front of about two miles, from Mudhole nearly to Hampton both these little places have changed their names and are now known as Roseton and Cedar Cliff. Danskammer is one of the few names that appear on the very oldest maps, and it was Henry Hudson, according to tradition, who christened the pretty wooded point that curves out into the river near our house, and called it Duyvil's Danskammer Devil's Dancechamber when he sailed up the river in the Half Moon and saw a group of Indians dancing in the firelight on the flat rock that crowned the point in those days. This Indian rock was broken off some years ago when the steamer Cornell was wrecked there on a foggy night, and the little light- house that stands there now was built after the accident.

My father had a substantial taste in houses; he built his new house of granite, in the classic style which was the fashion of the day, and finished it throughout in black wal- nut. The dark-colored granite came from Breakneck, near Cornwall, and the light granite of which the columns and trimmings are made was from Quincy, Massachusetts. I have heard that when the columns were landed at our dock there was a great question as to how to get them up the hill, as they were enormous. They finally drilled holes in the ends and made rollers of the columns themselves, and by attaching a tongue were able to roll them up to the house.
Read More

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Juan Jova's wife sponsored the 1887 construction of a notable brick church for the Roseton community: Our Lady of Mercy Chapel. Now isolated but still cared for, it stands directly across River Road from Central Hudson's (now Dynegy's) Roseton Generating Plant, which was built on the site of the Jova yard.

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Pictures of the Jova Brick Works taken in 1939

What Roseton and Danskammer Point look like today

1891 Beers Map showing Roseton, Jova Yards and Danskammer
The small green area at the upper right is Our Lady of Mercy Chapel.

1861
"We have been informed that a brickyard will be opened in this village soon near the Wallkill on S. Water St.

1862
Village Hall to be built of brick of 'home manufacture.'

1869
Bricks were manufactured in New Paltz as early as the 1830s, possibly earlier. According to early sources, the Reformed Church on Huguenot Street, built in 1839, was constructed of local brick. It is certain that Eaton Van Wagenen established a brick yard in 1869 on the West side of North Chestnut Street between Academy Street and Front Street.

A.M. Low (LOWE) operated a brickyard south of the village on Plains Road from the 1880s to 1906. In 1906 a group of local businessmen bought out Mr. Low, purchasing his property, as well as Andries LeFevre’s adjoining farm. They organized the Lowe Brick Company which operated successfully until 1928. Among the buildings still standing and known to have been constructed of local brick are the Academy Theatre [Village Hall] in 1863, the Van Vlack Pharmacy building in the 1880s and "Old Main" on the SUNY campus in 1909.

1888
Within a short time past the editor of the Independent has visited Kingston, Newburgh and Poughkeepsie, and passed through Marlborough, Rosendale, Highland and other villages in the vicinity. In none of those places was there as much evidence of life and animation as at New Paltz. In none of them was there as much new building to be seen in going through the main streets as is to be observed in New Paltz. And in no other place did so large a proportion of the buildings appear to have been erected in the past few years.

We must observe too that the buildings lately erected and those now in progress in this place are to a great extent fine appearing and tasteful. It has been freelypredicted that the boom must soon come to an end, because New Paltz has no factories, but somehow the determination to put up new houses does not seem to grow less. It is partly because New Paltz is such a delightful place of residences and partly because taxes are going to be so light here after this year, when the last of the town bonds are paid, and partly because of the growth of the patronage of the mountain houses and partly because of the increased number in the fruit business, and partly because of such new enterprises as the brickyard and creamery, but of course, the principal cause of the prosperity of the place is the Normal School, and when the new building is erected we may expect a continued steady growth of the place.

1889
Telephone installed in Normal School. "Rural Avenue" [Plains Road]. On this thoroughfare which leads from our village are many pleasant places, with scenery pleasing to the eye, all the way to Ireland Corners. First Maple Lawn, the home of the C. Wurts family, then the brickyard of A.M. Low, who employs from fifteen to twenty men and boys during the season;

1892
New Paltz Brick Co. (A.M. Low) manufactured 1 million bricks, 170,000sent to Kingston; 120,000 for the stack of Doremus Cement Mill, Whiteport;some shipped to Montgomery; 2 car loads to Walden; 75,000 ordered for cement mill in Binnewater.

1908
About fifteen years ago our village had quite a building boom for several years at a time when in the country at large there was a general depression inbusiness. Now at another time when there is general dullness in business, New Paltz is having quite a large number of new buildings put up. The building boom at the first time spoken of was on account of the establishment of the Normal school here. The present boom is for several reasons: the new Normal school building; the building of the New York aqueduct and the presence of a large number of engineers; the growth of the summer boarding business; the brick yard giving employment to a large number of hands; the transportation of excursions to and from Mohonk."