It's gone for good!! There are few 188-year-old buildings left on Prince Edward Island. I undertand the building was in poor condition, but there should have been some effort put in to saving it. The first I heard of its impending demise this afternoon on CBC Radio's loccal Mainstreet Island news.
The Brick House was built in 1828 by William Mutch (1811-1884) aka. Brickhouse William. He had 200-acres of land here. The Mutch family lived in this house for many generation until it was sold out of the family in 1959 to Richard MacKinnon.
Brick houses are rare in rural Prince Edward Island - of the nine brick kilns operating on Prince Edward Island in the 19th-century, seven of them were located in Lot 48/ Stratford and Area.
The above information comes from the Historic Places website:
I took the above photo on Feb. 12, 2003 / Below photos Historic Places Website 2008
Give Them Clay and They Will Make Bricks
By Nancy
J. Smith - January 12, 1999
We are well
aware of the hard work and creativity of our Island ancestoers and here is yet
another example of their ingenuity. Clay
or ‘brick clay’ as commonly called, causes filtration problems and sets limits
for land use. The presence of clay is
suspected in areas with a number of
springs and or swampy conditions and can be identified by its very plastic
and greasy texture when wet.
The clayey type till, prominent in the western
and south central parts of the Island, consists of silt and claystone (up to 3
meters thick) and accounts for approximately 30% of the exposed soils
types.
Jim Young, Paul Baker, Scott Stewart and
George Gaudet live in an area which is known for it prominent clay soils. Jim will tell you that his property in
Stratford would not handle an on site system because of the clay structure of
the soil but because of central sewer
areas like Zakem Heights, where he lives, are developed on a larger scale.
In the book, A History of Southport,
the chapter on businesses begins with the brick kilns. It states “ The brick industry in Southport
was once very important to the Island economy.
Of the nine kilns operating in the late 19th century, seven were in Lot
48. The good brick clays as found in
Southport were relatively rare on the Island.
Most (bricks) were used for chimneys and foundations.” In Charlottetown, Southport bricks can be
seen in the Prowse Bros. building, the Masonic Temple, Trinity United Church
and City Hall. And it has been said
that the bricks were also used in the construction of the streets in Boston.
Tignish and
Rocky Point are areas also known for their brickyards which operated throughout
the 1800’s. The Main Building on the Campus of UPEI and Tignish’s St Simon and
St Jude Church (1861) are made from
bricks manufactured in Tignish. The
history of the Winsloe South United Church
refers to the winter of 1880 when
the horse and sleigh convoy traveled to Rocky Point for bricks to build the
church. Even though the Rocky Point brickyard closed in the 1880’s it is still
indicated on the PEI’s 1988 soils map as a bored pit, this is an indication of just how restrictive uses for clay soil areas
can be.
The Water
Resources Division is certianly aware of the problems associated with brick
clay or tight soil conditions. With the use of soils maps, well drillers
records, onsite inspections and experiences the low permeability areas are
identified. Improvements in technology
has allowed for some of theses areas to be utilized with on site sewage
disposle units such as contour trenches systems or package treatment plants.
Today, through
research and development Islanders, like their ancestors, continue to show
their ingenuity for problem solving.
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