The Brickyard at Nauvoo

We were guides at the Brickyard today. There were 7 known brickyards in Nauvoo in the years the saints were here. They used clay from under the topsoil here and mixed it with sand from the Mississippi river and fired it at 2,000 degrees to get bricks for their homes. It took an average of 40,000 bricks for a home. It would cost them $200.00. The average wage was $1.00 per day so it took them awhile to save up enough to buy the materials for a home and most people didn't have the means to buy brick so they lived in log homes. There were about 350 brick homes in Old Nauvoo. By the time many of them finished their brick homes the time had come for them to leave on the trek to the Rocky Mountains so they only lived in the homes for a few months. There were 49 brick stuctures left standing when Nauvoo Restoration began in the 1960's.

This is a clay pit. When the clay is dug it is this tan color. There are flecks of iron oxide in the clay and when it is fired the iron oxide melts to give the bricks the beautiful red color.
There is an architectural aesthetic to these red brick homes that is so pleasing to the eye.
Could it be because they are made from the very earth where they stand?
Behind Dad in this field is the Hyrum Smith home where you will be staying next year.
The red brick part is the original home.