This Holiday Season, Support the Barker and Gift a Piece of Local History!
These “Barker Bricks” were made from clay from the same site as the bricks used to build the 1821 Barker house, today’s Darwin R. Barker Library & Museum. Each brick is stamped with ‘1821,’ signifying the year of the Barker’s construction.
The bricks were made and graciously donated this year by Ron Nasca of Mudslingers Studio in Fredonia. Nasca explained, “To tame this wild clay, it first has to be dried, then pulverized, rewetted, and sieved to remove large and small rocks.”
Nasca obtained the clay near Chestnut Street, where the brickyard of Hezekiah Turner and Horace Risley once stood. 100,000 bricks were sold to Leverett Barker (1787-1848) who had our historic building constructed in 1821, making it the first brick house in Fredonia. The Library & Museum is named after Leverett’s son Darwin R. Barker (1820-1885), who donated his childhood home at 7 Day Street to the Fredonia Library Association in 1882.
These Barker Bricks are small enough (1¼ x ¾) to hang from a tree, and can be purchased for $10 at the Barker. We wish you a Merry Brixmas!