How can I tell how old a brick is?

Question

I have found a bunch of really old looking bricks on my land in Suwannee County Florida. There was remains of a few chimneys and a well, along with bricks scattered umong my lot. when i first bought my land on the suwannee river, it was covered in thick new vegitation. There were no very big trees there. But there are some huge oaks in surrounding lots. there are trees on my property, but none really large. this tells me that my land was cleared once. I have found some interesting artifacts along with the bricks, I found a couple barrel hoops, an axe head, a steam boiler door, and an old iron lntern, all of them are really rusty. I also dug up a huge ash pit. So i know there was a historic settlement or villige there. Is there any way to find out how old the bricks are? They are significantly lighter in weight to new bricks.

Answer 1

If they are yellow they are probably kiln bricks which are really light. If you are determined to date them, call a local college and ask if the chemistry department ever does carbon dating. It might cost a lot other ways.

Answer 2

Take one or two to your local building supply company, or brickyard.  They should be able to help.

Answer 3

oh thats an easy one go to builder collage and take a course on brick language they will teach you how to communitcate with bricks so then you can just ask the old the bricks are plus you get a room in a mental hospital. lol. so in other words i have no idea.

Answer 4

Are there any markings on the brick. Many times the manufacterer use to mark their bricks. I have a feeling that they might not be as old as you hope.  Go to a title company or the county and see if you can follow the owners of the property back with a title search.

Answer 5

Sounds like you might be on an old cooper's lot (barrel maker). Your best bet would be to contact the Florida Historical Society. Here is the link to their web page:

http://www.florida-historical-soc.org/