Field Studies 01 - Fort Pike and St Joe Brick Works

Field Studies Fort Pike and St. Joe Brick Works

Anthony DelRosario

Studio in Building Preservation

Professors G. Cizek, M. Thomas, and H. Knight

Master in Preservation Studies

Tulane School of Architecture

1 PRST 6510 - Studio in Building Preservation – G. Cizek, M. Thomas, H. Knight – Feb. 26, 2010

Anthony DelRosario – Master in Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture

On February 19, Studio in Building Preservation made our first field trip of the

semester to Fort Pike and St. Joe Brick Works. This trip was made in coordination with

the lecture from the previous night about masonry conservation at Fort Jefferson. The

presentation featured five guest lecturers involved with the preservation of Fort

Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas of the Gulf of Mexico about 70 miles west of Key West,

Florida. The five represented several aspects of the second phase of preservation of

the fort: the National Park Service (NPS), the property manager; Lord Aeck & Sargent

Architecture, the project planners; Stone and Lime Imports Inc., the project contractor;

Highbridge Materials Consulting, the materials analysts; and St. Joe Brick Works, the

masonry supplier. Fort Jefferson, one of the largest forts ever built according to the

NPS, was constructed over thirty years from 1846 to 1875 as part of the Third System

of seacoast defense in the United States. This massive masonry fortification, known as

the Gibraltar of the Gulf, has been exposed to a severe marine environment for over

150 years. According to Kelly Clark of NPS, the salt, wind, and heat have lead to

several problems of deterioration: corrosion of iron Totten Shutters; brick and mortar

erosion; and collapsed masonry at the parapet. The wrought iron Totten shutters,

designed by General Joseph Totten to open upon the firing of the cannon and then

immediately close, have expanded from the salt in the air and have caused the

embrasures to crack, crumble, and fall into the moat. Phase I, which took place in the

early 2000s to serve as a guideline to the future bigger restoration phases, consisted of

materials analysis, replacing one Totten shutter with more weather resistant materials,

and re-bricking part of the scarp wall. The lecture showed many lessons learned and

new processes to apply towards Phase II. I found the presentation engaging with the



explanations from the different parties involved. The scientific illustrations from the

materials analysis were interesting. I also found interesting how preservation practices

at Fort Jefferson changed in a short time between Phase I and Phase II.

At Fort Pike in Eastern New Orleans where Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Borgne,

and the Rigolets meet, Studio in Building Preservation were able to see a masonry

fortification smaller than Fort Jefferson but facing similar problems. Fort Pike was also

built as part of the Third System but at the beginning of the period from 1819 to 1827 as

opposed to Fort Jefferson built towards the end of the Third System period. Fort Pike

was designed by Napoleon’s former Chief of Artillery Simon Bernard while Fort

Jefferson was designed by U. S. Army Chief Engineer General Joseph Totten. Fort

Pike has some problems with cracks in the scarp wall at the embrasures (Fig. 4) that we

could see from the entrance bridge. Also, all three corner bastions show severe

damage. Our tour was conducted by a very enthusiastic park employee, Jordan, who is

currently working on a Master degree in History at Southeastern University in

Hammond, Louisiana. A very interesting fact that Jordan told us was that the fort was

built on a platform of cypress timbers so that the fort would have a firm foundation but

also could rise and fall with the tide. However, during construction the outer wall was

connected to the inner part that was supposed to remain separate in order to take

advantage of the cypress timber platform and this error has caused severe damage.

Also according to Jordan, during Katrina the fort was filled with water plus had fifteen

feet of water above the top (Fig. 1). Having filled up with water before the most severe

surges helped prevent the fort from suffering more damage. Through his exploring of

Fort Pike, Jordan has found bricks stamped with names from at least five places



including Brooklyn, Basin Street, Pearlington, J. Noriega, and St. Joe (Fig. 17). Since

St. Joe started in 1891, long after when the fort was completed, we can tell that the St.

Joe bricks were used for restoration purposes. Jordan, who helps maintain the

grounds, also told us about steps that they take at the fort to help preserve the masonry

– the use of small thread in the weed eaters and the use of historic materials safe weed

killer. However, I find the fact that they allow nutria to live on the grounds not good for

maintaining the fort.

The Civil War Preservation Trust listed Fort Pike, grouped with Fort Jackson and

Fort St. Philip, among its ten most endangered battlefields in the U.S. in 2007.

Hopefully, with employees as enthusiastic as Jordan, Fort Pike will be seen as a local

as well as a national treasure.

Before going to St. Joe Brick Works on Friday, we heard from company president

Peter Schneider at the Thursday night lecture. He told us that there are only ten places

that still make wood mould bricks and that of the one billion annual brick production St.

Joe produces about five and a quarter million bricks. Peter also explained the

interesting fact that most of their bricks start off the same color and that the temperature

of the brick in the kiln will determine the color of the brick. I was glad to hear that the

National Park Service used not only an American brick maker but also a local brick

maker for the preservation efforts at Fort Jefferson.

Our trip to St. Joe Brick Works in Pearl River, Louisiana began with a lunch of

po-boys and chips graciously provided by the Schneiders. After lunch, we were given a

short but informative history of the company before taking a tour of the grounds. Our



group was broken up into two sections for the tour. I was in the group lead by Peter’s

brother Chris (Fig. 9) who was extremely enthusiastic throughout the tour. My group

saw the brick making process in the reverse order, so we started at the packing line.

From there we went to one of the beehive kilns (Fig. 12) which was being loaded with

green bricks. Chris showed us the inside roof of the kiln and explained how it was

created using bricks. Another kiln had been recently turned and was being unloaded.

We were able to enter the kiln and feel the draft created by the fan below the floor to

cool the baked bricks. The drying shed was an interesting building which was filled with

racks and steam pipes to dry the bricks. The shed has three sections that held 20,000

bricks each which took 24 hours to dry. We also saw where the sides of the shed could

be opened to use the natural breeze to dry the bricks (Fig. 13). The first of two

impressive machines at St. Joe was the enormous boiler (Fig. 11) from a World War I

feed ship used to feed the steam pipes in the drying shed. The next impressive

machine was the Heavy Duty AutoBrik Machine (Fig. 14) made by Lancaster Iron Works

in the 1920s. Chris explained that the machine contained “Real McCoys,” automatic

engine lubricators invented by Elijah McCoy. I find it quite amazing that St. Joe is still

using this 90 year old machine to make 5 million bricks a year. We also saw the packed

bricks that were ready to be shipped to Florida for use on Phase II of the Fort Jefferson

preservation project.

I had a great experience with Chris as our ebullient and enlightening guide on the

tour of St. Joe Brick Works. We were given the opportunity to take home some

souvenirs from St. Joe such as a brick as well as brick mould (Fig. 10). I opted for a

brick and a mould that had ST. JOE 1891-2005 with the 5 backwards.

i PRST 6510 - Studio in Building Preservation – G. Cizek, M. Thomas, H. Knight – Feb. 26, 2010


Sources Civil War Preservation Trust, America's Most Endangered Civil War Battlefields 2007,

<http://www.civilwar.org/aboutus/news/news-releases/2007-news/civil-war-

preservation-trust-1.html>

Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation's National Register Website.

<http://crt.louisiana.gov/hp/nationalregister/historicplacesdatabase.aspx>.

Fort Pike National Register document.

<http://crt.louisiana.gov/hp/nationalregister/nhl/document2.asp?name=36025001.

pdf>

National Park Service, Fort Jefferson website

<http://www.nps.gov/drto/historyculture/fort-jefferson.htm>

Preservation Technology class lecuture February 18, 2010.

St. Joe Brick Works, Inc. <http://www.stjoebrickworks.com/>

ii PRST 6510 - Studio in Building Preservation – G. Cizek, M. Thomas, H. Knight – Feb. 26, 2010


Images

Figure 1: Fort Pike aerial view post-Katrina Figure 2: Fort Pike

Figure 3: Fort Pike embrasure with crack, 1962 Figure 4: Fort Pike embrasure with crack, 2010

Figure 5: Citadel at Fort Pike Figure 6: Fort Pike cracked bastion

iii PRST 6510 - Studio in Building Preservation – G. Cizek, M. Thomas, H. Knight – Feb. 26, 2010


Figure 7: Fort Pike parade ground and citadel, 1967 Figure 8: Fort Pike parade ground and citadel, 2010

Figure 9: Chris Schneider inside Figure 10: St. Joe wood moulds Figure 11: St. Joe steam boiler beehive kiln at St. Joe

Figure 12: St. Joe beehive kiln Figure 13: Green St. Joe bricks in drying shed

iv PRST 6510 - Studio in Building Preservation – G. Cizek, M. Thomas, H. Knight – Feb. 26, 2010


Figure 14: St. Joe AutoBrik Machine Figure 15: Peter W. Schneider and sons

Figure 16: Fort Pike parade ground and citadel Figure 17: St. Joe Brick Works bricks at Fort Pike

Image Credits

Figure 1 – Judy B., <http://www.angelfire.com/la3/judyb/FTPIKE.html>

Figure 2 - Taylor Lasseigne,

<http://www.slicesofamerica.com/20110426nolatobiloxi.html>

Figure 3 – Dave Gleason, LOUISiana Digital Library,

<http://www.louisianadigitallibrary.org/u?/LHP,7413>

Figure 7 – Art Kleiner, LOUISiana Digital Library,

<http://www.louisianadigitallibrary.org/u?/LHP,7028>

All other photographs were taken by the author.

Field Studies 01 - Fort Pike and St Joe Brick Works

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