The ubiquity of bricks as building and paving materials makes them easy to take for granted. But archaeologists find bricks useful and interesting, and not just because we have borrowed the brick-layers flat masonry trowel as our most well-known archaeological tool! Bricks have been used for thousands of years as building materials, and are durable in the archaeological record making them a relatively common find. Materials and manufacturing methods have changed over time and place, so bricks are great for helping to figure out dates of archaeological sites as well as information about people who may have been using a site.

Bricks can be made of various types of clay and usually include some kind of temper, which is any substance that helps prevent the clay from shrinking, warping, and splitting too much. Bricks can be air-dried or fired. They can be hand-made or machine-made. All of these factors affect the look, color, and texture of the finished brick, making each type unique.

Vancouver residents will be quite familiar with the famous Hidden bricks. In 1871, Lowell Mason Hidden founded the Hidden Brick Company, the most successful brick manufacturer in Vancouver, at 15th and Main Streets. At the time there were other, smaller brickyards in Vancouver, and they were all preceded by brick-making at Fort Vancouver by the Hudson’s Bay Company. But while the HBC did manufacture bricks at Fort Vancouver, most bricks used at the fur trade fort and the US Army post were imported from England, the Willamette Valley, and California.

Archaeologically at Fort Vancouver, we recognize two broad categories of brick: English and American. English bricks were imported from England for use during Hudson’s Bay Company occupation at Fort Vancouver beginning in 1825 at the first fort. American bricks started being used at Fort Vancouver in the early 1840s.

English bricks are distinguished from American bricks by their color and composition. American bricks have the “brick red” color that we are used to. English bricks range from a yellow-gray to a kind of dark purplish color. The English bricks found at Fort Vancouver also often include lots of little bits of other things. In the 19th century, English brick makers used street sweepings as temper in the clay, so if you look closely you can see things like coal and other debris in the bricks.

During the search for the first Fort Vancouver, I was on the lookout for English brick. I know that bricks were used at the first fort. Chief Factor John McLoughlin mentions receiving bricks that had been originally intended for use at Fort George, brought to the Pacific Northwest in the hold of the brig William and Ann. McLoughlin bemoaned the “very inferior quality” of these bricks, but apparently approved of their use in constructing chimneys at the first fort.

Unfortunately, during my search for the first fort I did not find any English brick. But, I did find numerous bits and pieces of American brick, most likely evidence of historic and modern residential activity in the neighborhoods.