TexasEscapes.comTexas Escapes Online Magazine: Travel and History
Columns: History, Humor, Topical and Opinion
Over 2500 Texas Towns & Ghost Towns
NEW : : TEXAS TOWNS : : GHOST TOWNS : : TEXAS HOTELS : : FEATURES : : COLUMNS : : ARCHITECTURE : : IMAGES : : SITE MAP : : SEARCH SITE
HOME
SEARCH SITE
ARCHIVES
RESERVATIONS
Texas Hotels
Hotels
Cars
Air
Cruises
 

Fire, bricks and early chimneys

by Delbert Trew
Delbert Trew

Few of the tools needed by man equaled that of fire. He needed it to cook, heat, make light and to use for making other tools, like in blacksmithing. Before the friction match there was only the flint and steel method of starting fire from scratch.

Because fire was so necessary, yet was often hard to start, cavemen, later American Indians and early settlers kept live coals at hand carried in hard leather pouches and wrapped in moss. Later, a copper box called a "tinder box" was invented and used to carry live coals. One merely laid out a live coal, sprinkled dry grass over it and blew on it. This created an instant blaze.

Just as important as the need for fire was learning respect for the tool. Under control, a fire is a useful tool. Out of control, a fire can destroy life or the livelihood of the user. Respect for fire was carried out in many ways. Since most early fires were started in the kitchen many settlers especially on large plantations or ranches, built cook shacks out away from other structures for protection. Some early settlers had kitchens but cooked outside on campfires to prevent tragedy.

Before the advent of brick, settlers built chimneys by the "mud and stick" method. After the main structure was built leaving a large hole in the wall for the fireplace, they laid the rocks for the fireplace then stood four vertical poles outside the opening in a square, leaning against the house. Then they began tying short lengths of wood horizontally inside the poles until the top of the chimney was reached. As the chimney grew in height, mud was stuccoed by hand using mudcats both inside and outside the hollow opening as the crosspieces were attached. When thoroughly dry, the flue worked well carrying smoke upward.

If the clay stucco job was good, not using much grass, the mud and stick chimney worked well. Sometimes, if a large fire was built in the fireplace, the chimney itself would catch on fire.

When this happened, all occupants rushed outside to push the chimney poles outward away from the house to collapse on the ground to keep it from catching the cabin on fire. After the chimney fire burned out a new chimney could be built back the same way.

Eventually most communities developed a brick kiln, usually on the largest plantation or business in the area. They dug good clay from a nearby pit, mixed and formed the brick, then stacked them inside a kiln for firing. Early bricks used wooden molds leaving the bricks somewhat crude and uneven. After metal brick molds were invented, the bricks were smooth with sharp edges. Bricks could be identified by color as each clay pit contained its own distinctive color.

Of interest, the brick kilns of the day were very crude and heat was not always distributed as evenly as needed. The bricks stacked nearest the fires, usually made of charcoal, became harder in glaze than those stacked farther away.

The harder bricks were then separated and sold for a higher price than those with softer texture. That is why many old brick buildings today show deteriorated bricks, whereas other buildings show no damage. The builders used a cheaper, less fired brick.


© Delbert Trew
"It's All Trew"
December 14, 2010 column
Delbert Trew is a freelance writer and retired rancher. He can be reached at 806-779-3164, by mail at Box A, Alanreed, TX 79002, or by e-mail at trewblue@centramedia.net. For books see DelbertTrew.com. His column appears weekly.

Related Topics: Texas Homes |
Texas Ranching | Texas Panhandle | Texas Towns | Texas |
ALL ABOUT TEXAS:
Texas
PEOPLE >
PLACES >
THINGS >
TE Online Magazine >
Hotels >
 
TEXAS ESCAPES CONTENTS
HOME | TEXAS ESCAPES ONLINE MAGAZINE | TEXAS HOTELS
TEXAS TOWN LIST | TEXAS GHOST TOWNS | TEXAS COUNTIES

Texas Hill Country | East Texas | Central Texas North | Central Texas South | West Texas | Texas Panhandle | South Texas | Texas Gulf Coast
TRIPS | STATES PARKS | RIVERS | LAKES | DRIVES | MAPS

Texas Attractions
TEXAS FEATURES
People | Ghosts | Historic Trees | Cemeteries | Small Town Sagas | WWII | History | Texas Centennial | Black History | Art | Music | Animals | Books | Food
COLUMNS : History, Humor, Topical and Opinion

TEXAS ARCHITECTURE | IMAGES
Courthouses | Jails | Churches | Gas Stations | Schoolhouses | Bridges | Theaters | Monuments/Statues | Depots | Water Towers | Post Offices | Grain Elevators | Lodges | Museums | Rooms with a Past | Gargoyles | Cornerstones | Pitted Dates | Stores | Banks | Drive-by Architecture | Signs | Ghost Signs | Old Neon | Murals | Then & Now
Vintage Photos

TRAVEL RESERVATIONS | HOTELS | USA | MEXICO

Privacy Statement | Disclaimer | Recommend Us | Contributors | Staff | Contact TE
Website Content Copyright ©1998-2010. Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC. All Rights Reserved
This page last modified: December 14, 2010