The Brickyard in Chilmark – Once a Busy Vineyard Industry and Now One of the Island’s Hidden Industrial Wonders

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Reinterpreting New England’s Past For the Future" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Martha’s Vineyard is historically well known for its maritime economy, but what many do not know is that there was sufficient water power along inland rivers for substantial land-based industries in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Roaring Brook, originating in the hills of northwest Chilmark, was the site of several successive brickyard enterprises beginning in the 1830s through the 1880s. Since that time the remote brickyard site has long been forgotten, suffering from the effects of powerful coastal storms and deterioration by neglect with only the iconic brick chimney stack still standing as a reminder of the once thriving brickmaking industry nestled below the clay cliffs where the brook meets the ocean. Through a combined documentary and archaeological effort undertaken to enhance visitor experience and interpretation of the brickyard ruins, the site is once again coming to life for new generations of visitors to the island and local residents alike.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Reinterpreting New England’s Past For the Future   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 549