The map shown on the American Memory page is not the same as the 1859
Gilman map. I have seen a map similar to the one shown at the American
Memory Web site in a late 19th-century Rockbridge County land deed book.
I'd have to look up the exact volume.

My knowledge of brick construction and houses in Rockbridge County is
limited. The archaeology lab building at Washington and Lee University is a
brick farm house that was built during the 1840s. A current photo of it can
be found at http://archaeology.wlu.edu/lab.html. Going back further in
time, the Dunlap-Moore house on Route 646 is I believe made of brick and I
think it was built circa 1819. A Spring Dig class at Washington and Lee
excavated a brick kiln on grounds of the University during the late 1970s.
The kiln provided bricks for the circa 1799 construction of a rector's
house. Description of the kiln and excavations is reported by Kurt C. Russ
and John M. McDaniel, 1991, "Archaeological Residues of Domestic
Brickmaking: an Example from the Liberty Hall Academy Site Complex",
Quarterly Bulletin of the Archeological Societyof Virginia 46(2):86-95.

While researching the upper Kerrs Creek area, I read one woman's
recollection of the area and she referenced the "Brick Field", which is an
agricultural field along U.S. 60 where pieces of brick were turned over by
the plow. The brick represent the remains of a brick clamp where bricks had
been fired to build a nearby home. Although I don't recall the date of the
home, what the brick scatter suggests is that local people with knowledge
about brick making and access to suitable clay, could have fire brick at
anytime during the late 18th and early 19th centuries for home construction.

Dr. Pamela Simpson at Washington and Lee has studied the local architecture
of Rockbridge County, and she may have more insight to the use of bricks in
home construction.

Not an answer to your question, but something to consider.


michael m. gregory, ph.d.
Great Lakes Archaeological Research Center
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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