CATSKILL, NY
This Burleigh engraving shows the covered Jerome Walsh yard in 1889.
The site is now occupied by the Catskill Jr/Sr High School.
The little building (#10) to the left of the bridge is the Catskill Mountain Railway Station.
This railway brought shale from Cairo, NY to the Catskill Shale Brick Company
(Scroll down for a picture of the Shale BrickYards)
(Source: L.R. Burleigh, Troy, NY 1889, Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress)
This is what the site looks like today.
Students from the Catskill School (left) cross the Catskill Creek on the old RR bridge to get to Water Street
(Source:
https://maps.live.com)
CLICK FOR INTERACTIVE MAP
Catskill Creek and the RR Bridge,
Photo taken from the Walsh/Washburn Brickyard Site, Summer, 2007
(© DS Bayley)
This Burleigh engraving shows the Ferrier & Golden/CC Abeel yard in 1889.
(Source: L.R. Burleigh, Troy, NY 1889, Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress)
Ferrier & Golden/CC Abeel yard in 2007
Just a smoke stack and flag tower from one of the buildings remain
(Source: https://maps.live.com)
CLICK FOR INTERACTIVE MAP
Ferrier & Golden/CC Abeel yard in 2008
The smoke stack has been demolished.
The remainder of the brickyard site is now the Hop-o-nose Marina (160 W Main St)
(Source: https://maps.live.com)
Catskill yards included:
Jerome Walsh,
George W. Washburn (XXX),
Ferrier & Golden,
B. Goldin & Son,
C.C. Abeel,
Catskill Shale Brick and Paving Co. AKA:
Eastern Paving Brick Co (1901) (CATSKILL) (E.P.B.CO.),
Kaaterskill Paving Brick Co. (1906),
Catskill Vitrified Brick Co (1910),
Tidewater Paving Brick Co. (1917) (TIDEWATER)
Also found on the site: (F & C) possibly custom made for nearby Foote and Cummings building supply
From Our Collection:
George W. Washburn & Company
Catskill, NY
(found at the brickyard site, now Catskill Jr Sr High School.)
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From The NY Times August 27, 1899:
CATSKILL, N.Y. Aug 26.--Four men
were killed here this forenoon in the
Washburn brickyard. They were engaged
in the removal of burned brick for
shipment when nearly 200,000 green brick
in a kiln adjacent toppled over upon
them. William Hendsey and two Virginia
(workers) were killed outright. The
fourth man, an Italian, lived only two
hours after his removal from the wreck.
The accident is ascribed to the faulty
construction of the kiln.
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Eastern Paving Brick Co.
Catskill, NY
There had been a big polution problem arising
from the smoke stacks that had the local
people "smoking." The plant was shut down in
about 1901 for reason the "market bottomed out"
for a period of about five years, resuming
operation in about 1906. Air pollution continued,
and so did people's complaints. The chimneys
were subsequently heightened around 1910
in an attempt to mitigate the problem. By 1912
production declined again.
(Thanks to Fred Rieck for this info.)
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On July 29, 1899, NY Governor Theodore Roosevelt signed an order to "Abate Nuisance, Matter of Eastern Paving Brick Co."
To see the complete order, Click Here.
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From Website Visitor Chester Hartwell:
How "Doubles" came to be:
In 1908 Carmello de Benedictus, an Italian Immigrant settled in Catskill where he met and married Margaret Laurelli. They began their family and raised nine children on Water Street in the Village. Carmello was a brick maker working at the Catskill Brick Yard.
In those days brick workers were paid by the piece, the more you produced, the more money you made. Carmello, being a strapping young man began handling and throwing two bricks at a time and his co-workers nicknamed him "Double". In a tragic accident he died at the yard in a rock fall. The year was 1935.
Salvatore, the eldest son assumed the role of bread winner and decided to use this large Italian family in a restaurant and bar business. He purchased the building around the corner from their home at 29 Church Street and began what was to become a landmark fine dining establishment.
Looking for a name for this new venture Sal recalled his father's nickname and he named the business "DOUBLES" to honor his dad.
(from DOUBLES II web Site)
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Sources Consulted
A Self-Guided Walking Tour of Main Street in the
Historic Village of Catskill, NY
https://www.catskillny.org/tourpg12.htm
CD-ROM edition of Theodore Roosevelt's historical documents
https://www.theodoreroosevelt.org
The New York Times, August 27, 1899
https://www.caironychamber.com/storyofcairo.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catskill_Mountain_Railway
https://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9503E2DB1430E433A25750C1A96E9C94639FD7CF&oref=slogin
https://www.catskillarchive.com/index.html
L.R. Burleigh, Troy, NY 1889
Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress
(https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/map_item.pl)
The Great Hudson River Brick Industry
by George V. Hutton
Now Available at a Special Discount for Visitors of
Brickcollecting.com!
Click Here For Info
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