OLIVE HILL

Dee said...


I live in Mount Pleasant SC, just across the Cooper River from Charleston. I found a brick marked OLIVE HILL buried in the roots of a tree at our new school. The only info I can find is Olive Hill Kentucky which produced fire brick. The brick is solid, heavy and a white-grey color. Could it be from Kentucky? Were these type of bricks shipped to Charleston?

21 comments:

  1. Yes it is from Olive Hill, KY.
    For many years early in 20th century Olive Hill had a Brick factories. It was know as a brick making town due to the good quality clay in the area. There is still one in operation that makes Louisville Firebrick. The ones Stamped OLIVE HILL came from the large brickyard that closed many years ago. You can see images of it here: http://roadsideweirdness.blogspot.com/2009/03/olive-hill-brickyard.html

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  2. Then how did a brick from kentucky get all the way to southcarolina mt.pleasant? ???

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  3. I live in a suburb of Detroit, MI and I also have bricks marked Olive Hill...I found them while cleaning up the yard that hasnt been touched in about 10 years.

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    1. Olive Hill Brick Co. was founded in 1895, upgrades done in the 1940's and closed in the 1970's. that type of brick was made for the steel industry, shipped all ove the country which is the reason you can find them all over. I work in a Brick plant in Alliance, Ohio, Whitacre Greer Co. we make Firplace brick, wood burnung stove lining brick, and clay pavers for Streets, sidewalks and patios, we found a couple of the Olive Hill Firebrick next door, the old Alliance Clay Products that shut down around 1972.

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  4. I found a number of Olive Hill bricks in my yard of a 1910 house in Rochester, NY.

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  5. We found an Olive Hill brick in almost perfect condition buried at the roots of a tree on 13 acres in Texas (a cow pasture). I'd never heard of Olive Hill bricks so went on a search and found this site. Not sure if anyone is still out there but if so, we built a special pedestal for it and it is prominently posted at the gate to our garden. We call it Olive Hill Garden in honor of the brick!

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  6. That brick was made at a plant that opened in 1895 and closed in 1971. Bricks from that plant was shipped literally all over the world

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  7. I have a ton of these bricks if anyone is interested.

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    1. I am very interested in Olive Hill bricks. My wife's family worked in the plant. We live in Michigan now. In fact was visiting Olive Hill tonight and we to the plant to look for bricks. Can you reach out to me @ jterris5@gmail.com

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    2. If one is still available, I’d like to purchase one. Contact information: 98cooptroop@gmail.com

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  8. found one last week. Skidway, Mi

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  9. We just found an Olive Hill brick in our yard after building a chicken coop in our yard. It's a beautiful brick with the stamp on it, etc...hope to find more! We live in Birmingham, Al.

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  10. Australia Newcastle NSW Mayfield, we just discovered Olive Hill bricks in our fireplace.

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  11. The Olive Hill firebrick where used in iron firnaces, railroad steam engines, steam generators. power plants. They come in different sizes. A bottom block, is 8 times the size of a regular brick. weighs 74 pound. Almost all the old brick building in Olive Hill where made with firebrick. The creeks around here are full of them People around here kick them out of the way. I probably have a couple of tons

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  12. I was walking around on property that once belonged to my ancestors in Chadds Ford PA, on which stands a run down barn in ruins & a foundation to a house. While walking around, i found a brick with "olive hill" carved in it with a diamond to the left of that. It's the only brick i saw. I dont know why it was there or what was built with Olive Hill bricks. Didnt see anything made with bricks. Was a neat find though, aside from the hay trolley i also found. But thats another story lol Anyway, is there a way to know if Olive Hill Fire Brick Co had contracts with the Chadds Ford area? A way to find out what building on that site was built with those bricks?

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  13. today i was fishing in the sandusky river in tiffin ohio, and foundan olive hill brick in great shape , did all of them have the mason symbol imprinted on them

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  14. I found an "Olive Hill" brick in our yard in Clarksburg, WV. My mom's name is Olive so I'm giving it to her. I also found a brick with "Webster" on it & I gave it to a friend with that last name. He was excited to receive it. We are finding all different bricks as we dig in the yard.

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    1. I found 2 olive hill bricks in a steep mountain on my property in pounding mill va.where civil war soilders had been.. could not believe bricks were in this area where I found them.they are in perfect condition.they were half buried in the ground.

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  15. Olive Hill brick found today down in the rocks of the Tennessee River here in Muscle Shoals, AL.

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  16. I found a brick marked Olive Hill yesterday on the shore of Lake Erie at Woodlawn Beach State Park in NY state. There were a number of bricks at this location, and many seem to have been revealed since the last seiche on the lake created eroded patches of shoreline.

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  17. If anyone else finds a brick from Olive Hill, I would be interested in acquiring it.

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