You’ve probably seen them on the sides of historical mansions in Charleston or lining the walkways of Colonial Williamsburg. Those bricks don’t look like the ones at your local hardware store. They have character. They have "folds" that look like tucked dough and fingerprints that shouldn’t be there in a world of perfect automation. Honestly, it’s kinda wild that in 2026, we’re still talking about people throwing mud into wooden boxes for a living.
But that is exactly what happens at the Old Carolina Brick Company in Salisbury, North Carolina. While the rest of the world has moved to giant extrusion machines that spit out thousands of identical clay rectangles a minute, these guys are basically the last of the Mohicans. They are widely considered the last commercial-scale handmade brickmaker in America that actually does the "mud-throwing" by hand.
The Keyword is Craft, Not Volume
Most people think a brick is just a brick. It's not. If you go to a typical construction site, you’ll see bricks with holes in the middle—those are called "cores." They’re made that way to save money on shipping and to help them fire faster in the kiln.
The Old Carolina Brick Company doesn't do holes. Their bricks are solid. They weigh about 6 pounds each, compared to the 4 pounds of a standard machine-made version. That extra weight is just the beginning of the difference.
At the Salisbury plant, the process is surprisingly low-tech for the 21st century. A worker, known as a "mud thrower," takes a slab of raw North Carolina clay—called a "slug"—rolls it in a specific type of sand, and then throws it with significant force into a wooden mold. That "throw" is the secret sauce. It forces the clay into the corners of the mold, creating those distinctive surface folds and ripples that architects call "character" and regular people just call "beautiful."
Why the "Last Brickmaker" title is a bit complicated
You might hear people talk about George Henry Black. He was a legendary figure in Winston-Salem who made bricks by hand for over 80 years. Reader’s Digest famously dubbed him "The Last Brickmaker in America" back in the 70s. He even went to Guyana for the State Department to teach his craft.
But George passed away in 1980 at the age of 101.
After him, the title sort of shifted. While there are a few boutique artisans or tiny outfits that might make a handful of bricks for a backyard project, Old Carolina is the last one doing it at a scale that can support massive restoration projects or high-end custom homes. They produce about 10 million bricks a year. That sounds like a lot until you realize a "big" corporate brick company might churn out 120 million in the same timeframe.
How It's Actually Made (No, It’s Not Just Mud)
It starts with the clay. They use local North Carolina clay, which is pretty much the same stuff used by Colonial settlers. But the color doesn't just come from the dirt. It comes from the sand used to coat the wooden molds.
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Think of it like flouring a cake pan. The sand acts as a release agent so the wet clay doesn't stick to the wood. Different sands from different regions produce different hues—from deep burgundies to those dusty, "Savannah Grey" tones that are so hard to replicate.
- The Throw: The mud thrower has to hit the mold just right. Too soft, and the brick is mushy. Too hard, and you ruin the texture.
- The Drying: These bricks sit in a 500-degree dryer for about 24 hours to get the moisture out. If you fire a wet brick, it explodes. Simple physics.
- The Firing: This is where the magic (and the coal) comes in. They use coal-fired tunnel kilns that reach over 1,900 degrees. The coal creates "flashing"—subtle variations in color that make each brick slightly different from its neighbor.
Why Do We Still Care?
Because machines are too perfect. Machine-made bricks are extruded through a die and cut with wires. They are precise. They are uniform. And in a historic district, they look totally fake.
If you are restoring Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello or working on a wing of Mount Vernon, you can't use "Home Depot specials." You need something that looks 300 years old on day one. Handmade bricks have natural air pockets. This actually makes them more durable in some ways because the air pockets allow moisture to freeze and thaw without the face of the brick popping off—a common problem with cheap, over-compressed modern bricks.
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What Most People Get Wrong
People assume "handmade" means "weak."
Actually, the opposite is often true. Because these bricks aren't compressed by a hydraulic press, they aren't "stressed" before they even hit the kiln. They have a density and a bond with mortar that machine-made bricks struggle to match.
The other misconception? That it's a dead industry.
It’s actually a thriving niche. About 75% of Old Carolina’s business isn't restoration—it's high-end residential. People with "discriminating tastes" (as the company’s VP Art Burkhart likes to put it) want their new house in Greenwich or Carmel to look like it has a soul. You can't get that soul from a machine.
Actionable Insights for Your Next Project
If you’re looking into using handmade bricks—or just want to appreciate them—keep these points in mind:
- Check the weight. A real handmade brick is solid and heavy. If it has three holes in the middle, it’s machine-made, even if the edges are tumbled to look "old."
- Look for "folds." Look at the surface of the brick. You should see what looks like ripples in sand or folds in fabric. These are the physical marks of the mud hitting the mold.
- Expect a price jump. Handmade bricks are significantly more expensive. You’re paying for the labor of a human being throwing mud and the specialized coal-firing process.
- Mixing is key. Because they are handmade, the colors vary. A good mason knows how to pull from different pallets to ensure the "blend" looks natural across the wall.
The last brickmaker in America isn't just a relic of the past; it's a bridge to a type of quality that we almost lost to the assembly line. Whether it’s the fingerprints in the clay or the way the coal fire licks the surface, these bricks tell a story that a machine simply doesn't know how to write.
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To see these in person, your best bet is a trip to a historic site like Colonial Williamsburg or the newer "Savannah Grey" projects in the South. You’ll notice the difference immediately. The walls look "soft" and warm, rather than cold and industrial. That’s the human element, literally baked into the dirt.