Historic Resources ➤ Industry ➤ The Glacier
The Glacier
Brighton Brickmakers when questioned … “Why Bricks in Brighton? … probably answered …
Brighton was once covered by a glacial ice field, yes … similar to many other areas of this country. But if you were to visit the land area adjacent to our town, you would find a landscape of a immense variety of glacial remains. Land forms with names like eskers, drumlins, kettles, … a land reconfigured as the glacier receded to the north …a land of many deposits of glacial debris. Within the deposited soil of Brighton was found the basic material for brick manufacture, sand and clay Clay, a granular soil deposit was carried by the melting glacial rivers and water falls as the glacier stalled in its retreat at Highland Avenue and a major river must have flowed from the icy heights, south in the direction of Monroe Avenue leaving a layer of clay.
The Glacier depth, (a mile deep over Brighton), would have submerged our neighbor city, Rochester, creating snow and ice depth twelve times the 441′ height of the tallest building (Xerox Tower), in downtown Rochester NY
For Information on the Glacier covering Rochester N.Y. see:
- Glacier Story, Brighton Clay Fields, Map of Pinnacle Range – Glacial Geology by James S. Wishart
- http://www.ggw.org/ras/geostory/glacieo.htm
- Pinnacle Range Time Line – http://www.vintageviews.org/vv-r/parks/cobbs_hill.html