#5 - The Brick Factory
Let's go back in time by comparing your current view to the 1908 black & white photo. This is a southeast view of the town below. This view is from the ridge here, where St. Matthew's stands.
You can orient yourself by using my labeled aerial photo. The Church is at #1 and, if you are standing there, the Old Stone Arch Bridge #3 is directly south of your position. If you drove to the end of the parking lot (where the foliage ends) you are at location #2 and must look to your right at about a 45-degree angle to see where the bridge was in the photo of the brick factory.
The two 80' smoke stacks of the old brick factory stand out in the photo (they are long gone). When you stood by the bridge, they would have been a short distance to your right (east) and behind you (south).
To the right of the smoke stacks in the photo, the large building is the Chestnut Ridge Lodge (hotel). More about that later.
In front of the smoke stacks, you can see the excavation area where clay was mined and to the right (west) is the railroad depot building. All of these are now gone.
How did all of this begin? In 1898, a group of millionaires, including J.P. Morgan, got the bright idea to develop the Chestnut Ridge. They formed the Chestnut Ridge Development Corporation. A central part of their plan included the construction of this brick factory in Kunkletown. They imagined it would produce millions of white bricks a year. They purchased over 4,000 acres of land and land rights in Eldred Township.
They built a railroad to transport the bricks and to bring tourists to the area.
The brick company was called the New York and Philadelphia Brick, Tile and the Terra Cotta Company. It opened in 1900. The company failed in a short time and was replaced by the Chestnut Ridge White Brick Company, but this company also failed.
By 1929, the brick company dream in Kunkletown was over. But clay continued to be mined nearby and over in Saylorsburg brick companies had a little better success.
The two tall chimneys were taken down in the 1940's. While the brick company is gone, the bricks have left a "mark" on Kunkletown as local residents have collected some of the bricks through the years.
Harry & Betty Hahn were kind enough to donate some of their bricks to the 1855 One-Room Schoolhouse for future generations to enjoy. Also, Jim Vogt and Carolyn Lange donated bricks that now grace the school's collection.
Let's now learn a bit more about the railroad.
