The Thomas/Padgett Home

The brick used in the 1865 remodel are pictured here. These brick were made on Wolf Hill, to the northeast of the home.
Shown are a few of the different types of brick we came across during our remodel. The brick were made and air dried then stacked and fired in a site built kiln. The bricks themselves formed the kiln, they were stacked up in a pattern that formed flues. Wood fires were lit in arches formed in the sides of the kiln, or "clamp". Smoke and fire rolled through the flues and heated the stack of brick to about 1800 degrees. Some of the brick were underfired and soft, these were most likely around the outside of the pile. They are usually larger than the hard fired brick also. In the top photo is a piece of the corner of a brick that chipped off. It shows how the hardened "shell" can pop off some of the brick with a hard exterior but a soft interior.

Below is a link to an article from a book about brickmaking from the 1850's.

Brickmaking article

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