these are my bricks
October 13th 2008 05:13 pm
Back in 1886 some relatives of mine (I assume) founded the Stiles Brick Company in Bridgewater, MA. The industrial revolution demanded mountain piles of high-quality bricks, and the SBC cranked them out with maniacal fervor. Take a walk through Lowell, Waltham, etc… these towns are 99 and 44/100% pure Stiles brick. I have often dreamed of having a house built entirely out of Stiles bricks, obviously with the “STILES” side facing out, so as to passionately declare that it is MY HOUSE.
At some point, the SBC underwent a merger of some sort and became the Stiles and Hart Brick Company. This business move created an unstoppable juggernaut of brick production that is in full force to this day. However, it entailed a redesign of the logo on the bricks, and they now feature a more modest “S+H” insignia. These bricks are everywhere, but you might never know it since the plain side is usually facing out.
Well yesterday I was wandering around Central Square in Cambridge, MA, where most of the sidewalks are brick-lined. I happened upon a few bricks that were overturned, and was pleased as punch to see that familiar S+H shining up at me. Yes, this entire sidewalk is constructed out of Stiles + Hart Bricks, so as far as I’m concerned it belongs to me. I can’t say for sure, but I suspect that much of the metro/Boston area is similarly paved with my bricks, and I would be entitled to claim ownership of all the sidewalks if it ever came down to that.
cheyanimal responded on 14 Oct 2008 at 6:20 am #
boston is full of brick buildings, i think you should consider those yours as well. you can sell all those buildings back to people and use the money toward your cat army.
Kyle Finchsigmate responded on 25 Oct 2008 at 11:17 pm #
I love Boston. I miss it so. *sigh*
cheyanimal responded on 08 Nov 2008 at 7:25 am #
i met someone at the rose and crown who also claimed to be a “stiles” of the brick family line. weird….
c
cheyanimal responded on 20 Nov 2008 at 10:04 pm #
also someone called the lab today for you saying they found some of your stuff in the street and they wanted to return it to you. thought you’d like to know.
Colette responded on 20 May 2009 at 2:00 am #
Hello I was gardening in our newly purchased backyard when I came upon several bricks with the STILES logo on them. It is not in cursive but printed out just like I typed. I also found bricks with C on them. Any idea about where they came from? You show a cursive one and with the little research that I have done I found that they came from J.L. Stiles & Son Brick Company of North Haven, CT 1875-1957. Any thoughts on this?? I would love to know the real history of these bricks!!!!!!
Ana responded on 04 Jul 2010 at 7:56 pm #
Please note the discussion of Stiles bricks and Stiles and Hart Bricks, and response, at the link below. The first brick building (and still part) of the church that I belong to was made of Stiles bricks from North Haven, Conn., some hauled to Cheshire CT by parishioners.
Ana
http://genforum.genealogy.com/stiles/messages/971.html