Bricks without straw

I really don't know if they used straw or not.

I've just started researching the brick making of some of my ancestors. My Fulford family who settled in Carteret County North Carolina and lived on the same land for 300 years had time to make a living in many different ways.

There is a story about the saloon they ran in the 1800s which I will have to explore on another day.

There is also the story that Joseph Fulford found a river of red clay on his property and started making bricks. The clay was located on the Straits, just behind the current Straits Methodist Church.

The Fulfords dug out the clay and made it into bricks. Some of the old bricks have been found in the water out in front of the property where they apparently fell off or were discarded from the boats taking them to places of construction.

One of those places where the bricks ended up was Fort Macon, at the point of the harbor in Beaufort, North Carolina. The old fort, built between 1826-1834 is still standing. It was later scene of the only real Civil War battle in the area around Beaufort and several of the great grandsons of Joseph Fulford were on the losing side.