Mystery and History of OCH Bricks
The mystery and confusion of the origin of Old City Hall’s bricks is an ongoing point of interest among community members and local history buffs alike. With the renovation of such a prominent, historical building it is no wonder so many folks are curious to know of its structural beginnings. As it turns out, these bricks have a pretty cool story to tell. Some of these famed bricks are now up for grabs, with the goal of seeing them repurposed in a way that will continue to serve our community.
There has been plenty of speculation surrounding the derivation of OCH’s bricks, theories range from China, to Italy, to the US. The truth of the matter is, these bricks have a humble beginning. In April of 1892, 400,000 pressed, buffed, yellow/brown roman bricks to be used for Tacoma’s new City Hall exterior, arrived on the schooner Hayes from San Francisco (where they were likely produced). Many hypothesize these are the same bricks that were imported to build Stadium High School (formerly constructed with the intent of becoming a luxury tourist hotel). Though the aim was for the 2 buildings to look similar, the bricks brought in for the hotel's construction arrived in October of 1892. While there is no proof they came from the same factory or kiln, they were imported from the same city and it sure is fun to speculate their shared extraction.
Now, it’s a year prior to the bricks delivery, where things really get muddy. In 1891 Tacoma’s Chamber of Commerce was also being constructed. The current location of OCH was originally supposed to be the Chamber of Commerce. In September of 1891, after both buildings had been under construction for a year, the sites were switched! The foundations for each building were slightly amended so the switch could take place. This led to the misalignment of Wilkeson Stone to OCH. This site switch also seems to have resulted in the loss of recorded plans for both buildings. The story doesn’t stop there, amidst this all, OCH’s contractor did not want to use brick as specified by the architect, but rather use stone throughout (as done in the courthouse). A multitude of options and bids swiftly flooded in, however they were ultimately not passed by council. With this decision came a lot of frustration in the city that these exterior bricks were not locally sourced seeing as we had brick factories here in town. San Francisco was likely chosen due to the architect, EA Hatherton’s, connections to San Francisco. With all these changes within such a short time span, it is no wonder one might be perplexed in navigating OCH’s elusive brick timeline.
As for the interior bricks, their source poses more of a mystery. With a less exciting back story, these red bricks were used more simply as support, being plastered over after their initial inlay. They were not uncovered until 1969. Even after much research, our best guess is that these bricks were locally made. The cost of importing more bricks, on an already over budget project, would not have been prudent.
While recounting the record of these bricks brings about plenty of interesting information, the history and highlight of them really lies within their integrity over the hundreds of years they’ve upheld our beloved Old City Hall.
Now SURGE Restoration is excited to repurpose 500 of the 135-year old bricks removed from OCH’s interior. Edward Neiland, the coordinator of the 40th Street Community Garden was enthusiastic to put some of the bricks to new use, fortifying garden boxes and compost areas. Edward felt other local community gardens would benefit from utilizing these bricks around their sites.
Eli Moreno, the developer of Old City Hall, is now looking to deliver these bricks at no cost to any other local community sites looking for a trailer full of bricks to put to good use. If interested, please contact us at (253) 650-0643!
