Skills and Trades of Barnstable Past: Ten Fun Facts About West Barnstable Bricks

The site near “Brickyard Creek” in West Barnstable is a natural clay deposit – material left by the glaciers of over 15,000 years ago.

One or more potteries had been established in this area since at least the 1820s. Before that time, pottery needed on the Cape had to be transported from Plymouth and elsewhere. Many items were damaged during transit.
Pottery experts note that pottery from West Barnstable may have typically had a green glaze, been marked with wavy and straight incised lines, and had a strong thumb print at the base of handles.
Clay bricks were first made at the site in the 1860’s, and in 1878, Noah Bradford, a potter’s son (and descendant of Governor Bradford of the Mayflower), established a brickyard with Benjamin F. Crocker, Charles C. Crocker, and Levi Godspeed.

(West Barnstable brickyard)

In the 1880’s they were joined by Abel D. Makepeace (also known as “The Cranberry King”) who introduced machinery and more modern methods.

(Abel Dennison Makepeace 1832-1913)

By 1905, the majority of the workers at West Barnstable brickyard were immigrants from Finland and Portugal.

(West Barnstable brickyard)

The brickyard was sold to a new owner, Thomas Arden, in 1926. The stamp on the bricks was changed from the “W. Barnstable Brick Co.” to the imprint “W.B.B.” At that time, it is believed that more than 100,000 bricks a day were made, but perhaps only one in 100 bore the stamp. The stamped brick served as a label for each skid of bricks.

Herbert Hoover, before his term as U.S. President (1929-1933), was the Secretary of Commerce. He led a nation-wide effort to standardize brick sizes. That led, in 1928, to the industry’s acceptance of the modern brick size (3 5/8 inches wide x 2 ¼ inches high x 8 inches long). Unfortunately, West Barnstable bricks were an eighth of an inch too big, which meant new equipment was needed.

(Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover)

In the early 1930s, a test hole was drilled to see how much clay was left. Unfortunately, this caused a well to develop, and freshwater that was lying underneath the clay forced upwards to ground level. This flooded the site, and created the freshwater pond that still exists today. That incident was then followed by the Great Depression. The brickyard company had borrowed money, which the bank then recalled, and it no longer made economic sense to save the business.