Old Virginia Brick

[farlymac]

The Old Virginia Brick company was sold at auction, with four parcels of land in three counties, including the brick making factory just west of Salem, VA. I had some film left in the Nikon N90s, and in between bouts of rain showers took some photos to document the place before it possibly is no more.

On the grounds is a 9/11 Memorial constructed of two pieces of steel framing from the NorthTower of the WorldTradeCenter. It was originally going to be sold with the brick plant, but then was put up for separate bid, with the proceeds to go to the 9/11 Memorial Foundation. That brought some negative press, and the Foundation refused to accept any money raised in such a fashion, so the decision was made to donate it to the city of Salem, VA, where they plan to install it in one of their parks.

It’s sad to note that the reason the company went under is a lack of brick being used in new home construction.

Old Virginia Brick Sign by P F McFarland, on Flickr

Corridor by P F McFarland, on Flickr

Leaning Power by P F McFarland, on Flickr

The Pile by P F McFarland, on Flickr

Chagrined by P F McFarland, on Flickr

9-11 Memorial 1 by P F McFarland, on Flickr

9-11 Memorial 4 by P F McFarland, on Flickr

More at https://flic.kr/s/aHskekHfEU

PF

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Sad to see an old enterprise like that close. It actually looks pretty modern. There was a brick factory in the small town of Medora in southern Indiana that closed in the late 1990s after nearly 100 years of operation. I photographed it, but it was much more primitive looking, like something frozen in the early days of the industrial revolution.It had 'beehive kilns', round brick buildings with domed roofs that looked like Mongolian Yurts, to fire the bricks they made there. The kilns had to be stoked by hand, rather than having modern gas-fired kilns.

The place in Virginia should have been more economically viable, so it shows how much our economy is hurting when a place like that closes.