Hutton Brick Co.

An old Brick Factory lays in ruins on the Hudson river, awaiting an unknown future.

History:
The Hutton Brick Co. was founded in 1865 and operated until at least 1979. this large operation featured a small narrow-gauge railway which hauled carloads of clay from an open strip-mine site west of the factory, across the now closed Steep Rocks Road just east of the factory buildings. This track crossed the old NYC Hudson Cement branch at a diamond crossing.

Current:
The property today is completely abandoned. Steep Rocks Road is fenced off from vehicular access, though your free to walk through an opening and up the road into the old factory area off to the right. (to the left is where the mine was located – it has basically returned to nature).

Most of the buildings here have been gutted of equipment. Anything metal was looted long ago by scrappers. Curiously, a building towards the river was re-purposed as a restaurant, which later failed. Here is where local kids have set up skateboard and dirtbike ramps. Several were building a new obstacle coarse as we wandered through – not bothered at all by our presence.

Further back were the drying sheds, and large (brick, of course) ovens were the clay was heated and molded. Several of the old narrow gauge tracks are still embedded in the concrete here. these are some of the only traces of the railway here. There doesn’t seem to be any record online as to what happened to the 2 old locomotives and the clay hauling cars, though I did find this photo of what looks like one outside an abandoned restaurant in Oneonta. (This restaurant is currently listed as for sale).

Future:
the future of this old historic site is very much in question today. Apparently it has been marked for redevelopment:
To the south, another 300+ unit development known as Sailor’s Cove threatens the Hutton Company Brick works, one of only two intact brick yards along the Hudson River. In response, Scenic Hudson, local citizens and New York Times editorials have questioned the rationale for building so many units on such relatively small sites along the river, raising the larger question of “whose riverfront is it?” – only those who can afford the new condos or the community at large?
Source: http://www.hudsonvalleyruins.org/yasinsac/ulster/ekingston.html

I of course think it’d be more of a benefit to the community at large to turn a location like this into a museum of Hudson Valley industry. That of course would take a huge amount of time and effort. Apparently in the early 1990s there was a plan to do just this, though clearly it never happened. Despite this, Kingston is surprisingly a town that is able to muster some good volunteer activity. The CMRR is rebuilding what would today be considered a ‘rail line to nowhere’ – from Kingston westword into the mountains. The Trolley Museum of New York still operates a short trolley ride (and has some ex NYCTA cars on the property to boot). Restaurants have moved into many of the old buildings at the ‘Roundout’ area.