On the closing day of the exhibit, Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010, at 2 pm and at 3
pm curator T. Robins Brown will lead a gallery tour of Moving Bricks on the
Hudson, the Haverstraw Brick Museum's Hudson Fulton Champlain
Quadricentennial exhibit.  The show highlights the sloops, schooners,
towboats, tugs and barges that transported bricks on the Hudson in the 19th
and early 20th centuries.  Visitors will discover the stories of the
captains, crew, and boat builders that were part of the maritime enterprise
that carried up to 1,000,000,000 (yes, billion) bricks annually.  The
exhibit brings together for the first fascinating illustrations and items
donated or loaned to the museum by descendants of brick boatmen and from
other individuals and museums including the Mariners' Museum in Newport
News, Virginia, the Peabody Essex Institute in Salem, Massachusetts, the
Hudson River Maritime Museum in Kingston, and the Historical Society of
Rockland County.  A slide show documents the dangers of transporting brick
by water.  A delightful short film of 1903 gives viewers a speedy trip on
the Hudson River from Haverstraw to Newburgh.  A unique three-foot model of
a barge with cutouts on loan from the Reynolds Shipyard Corp. allows
visitors to inspect the structural system used to carry the very heavy brick
cargo.  

 

Through Jan. 31 the exhibit is open during the museum's regular hours, Wed.,
Sat.,  and Sun, 1-4 pm.  Children are welcome.  A gallery guide for children
encourages them to find fascinating items in the exhibit and they can also
build a "tow" with model boats.

 

The mission of the Haverstraw Brick Museum is to collect, preserve, research
and exhibit materials and cultures of the brick making industry within the
Hudson River Valley.  The museum is located at 12 Main Street, Haverstraw,
NY.  For directions and other information, please visit the museum's website
at www. haverstrawbrickmuseum.org or call:  845-947-3505.  For additional
information about the gallery tours, please contact Brown at
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