Brick Pond

From its namesake, the Hollenback Brickyard, to its eventual status as a protected wetland and nature preserve, Brick Pond, colloquially known as The Brick Pond, in Owego, New York has a long and fascinating history.

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No story about the Brick Pond would be complete without expressing gratitude to the Ellis family, especially Peter Ellis.

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During the 1800s, the Hollenback family owned much of the land on the east end of Owego, including what is now known as the Brick Pond. The family discovered the blue-gray clay bed while excavating for house foundations and decided to use this clay bed for brickmaking. The pond area became the Hollenback Brickyard, sometimes referred to at the time as the Brickyard Swamp. 

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The Hollenbacks collected the clay, ground it, mixed it with water to create a heavy slurry, poured the slurry into brick molds, then let the bricks air dry. The bricks were placed in kilns and fired on-site at 1800 to 2400 degrees Fahrenheit. These bricks were used later to build the first brick house in Owego—the Ely house—in 1833.

After the great fire of 1849 burned down 80% of the Owego business district, the demand for bricks increased dramatically. The Hollenback Brickyard and kiln were expanded next to the Erie Railroad tracks. Completed in 1849, the Erie Railroad ran parallel to the Susquehanna River—through the brickyard. 

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To keep the tracks above flood level, the rail bed required a lot of fill, much of which was sourced from the Hollenback Brickyard. The family utilized the soil layer that once covered the clay layer as fill. Using tracks and iron wagons, they built a 50-foot-long kiln, and began engaging more sophisticated forming and air-curing methods. At peak production, there were 30,000 to 50,000 bricks a day.

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In the 1870s friends Albert Keeler and Jonathan Houck, both masons by trade, moved to Owego to take part in what they considered a “building boom,” following the great fire of 1849. After a few years, they decided to become partners and likely leased the brickyard from the Hollenbacks, naming it the Houck and Keeler Brickyard.  In 1872 bricks from this yard were used to build the Tioga County Courthouse. The business closed in the 1880s due to a decrease in demand,  the increased cost of wood for the kilns, and complaints from neighborhood members about the firing smell. The remnants of the clay pit and kiln can still be found across from the Riverview Manor Nursing Home on NYS Rt. 17C. Unused bricks can still be found along the trails at Brick Pond.

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Through the years, much of the pond was sold to different families and inherited across the generations; six of the acres were owned by the Ellis family. The Ellis family kept a milk cow and grew potatoes on part of the lowland not covered by water. The land was passed down through the family to William G. Ellis. Before his death in 1970, he wanted to turn the swamp—known by locals as Turtletown—into a park. With this plan in mind, Mr. Ellis contacted landowners to the west, but none seemed interested in relinquishing their land holdings.

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After William’s death in 1970, his son Peter B. Ellis inherited the land and remembered his father’s interest in establishing a park. During this time, New York State passed the Wetlands Act (1975), which protected areas such as Brick Pond from commercial development or other degradation. In 1976, Peter began contacting adjoining property owners in an attempt to revitalize his father’s efforts. To Peter’s east were 12 acres of swampland owned jointly by W. W. Werts and Edna Frisby. They agreed to give the land to Peter if he paid the back taxes on the property, totaling $933.85 (equivalent to approximately $5,161 in 2024). The funds required were provided by an anonymous donor, the late Mark Wood, and the Hyde Estate. By 1977, Peter succeeded in getting both deeds signed.

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The six acres to Peter’s west, owned by Paul Hollingsworth, were optioned off to the Owego Moose Club, which intended to fill in part of the swamp to build a clubhouse. However, Tioga County certified Brick Pond as a Class 2 freshwater wetland, thereby preventing commercial development, including the proposed clubhouse. Peter was compelled to buy this property as well since a portion had already been filled in. Hollingsworth sold the land for $3,000 (equivalent to approximately $16,597 in 2024). In July 1977, the collected land, totaling 24 acres, was deeded to the Tioga Conservation Education Center (later known as the Waterman Conservation Education Center).

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The last six acres Peter had his sights on were first known as “The Brick Pond”, a deeper area of the wetland likely created from excavating clay to manufacture bricks. This land was west of the Hollingsworth property and was owned by Mrs. Fig. The pond was of particular interest for the park as it was a popular location for ice skating. Peter first reached out to Mrs. Fig in August 1976. Initially reluctant to sell her property to create a park, after years of communication with Peter, Mrs.Fig agreed in 1985 to sell Brick Pond for $3,000 (equivalent to approximately $8,776 in 2024), as long as the land was given to the Tioga Boys Club (later known as Tioga Boys and Girls Club). By July 1985, the deed was signed over to the Tioga Boys Club. In 1999 most of the six acres were deeded to the Waterman Conservation Education Center, and the remaining small parcel was deeded over in 2001.

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To help manage the 30 acres collectively, the Waterman Conservation Education Center, the Tioga Boys and Girls Club, Tioga Soil and Water, and Peter Ellis formed the Brick Pond Committee. The committee got to work establishing trails and wooden walkways, and, in 1987, a 430-foot footbridge across the middle of the pond. Much of this work was completed thanks to the Tioga County Soil and Water Conservation District’s Environmental Youth Corps. The Environmental Youth Corps was funded by a legislative grant, which employed 40 young people to work on conservation-related projects throughout the county. Unfortunately, the bridge was destroyed during the 2011 flood.

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Peter wanted the 30 acres to be developed for ice skating and for native wetland species to be planted for the benefit of native wildlife. He hoped the land would remain “a wild and swampy area for the enjoyment of wildlife and people.” To help accomplish these goals, Herbert Axell of Suffolk, England was invited to make recommendations on managing wetlands. Charles Truman, a Town of Owego Councilman at the time, met Mr. Axell on a birding tour in Great Britain and invited him to take a look at Brick Pond. Mr. Axell worked for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) until he retired in 1980. In retirement he acted as an independent consultant on bird habitats, planning and making reserves for the World Wildlife Fund, the International Council for Bird Preservation, and various governments and local bodies. He visited the pond many times during his stay in Tioga County and made recommendations to attract more nesting waterfowl as well as other birds. Axell was lauded for his enthusiasm about making a wetland more habitable for wildlife. Axell provided a three-year plan to the Brick Pond Committee to help with establishing native wetland flora and fauna. 

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As a direct consequence of the 2011 flood and the bridge’s destruction, a coalition of organizations led by the Army Corps of Engineers formed in 2013 to construct a berm across the pond to better control water flow, enhance habitat quality, and maintain trail access after the bridge's destruction. This coalition consisted of members from the Army Corps of Engineers, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, US Fish & Wildlife, Tioga County Soil and Water, the Upper Susquehanna Coalition, and the Waterman Conservation Education Center. In subsequent years Waterman has partnered with Boy Scout troops to enhance the surface of the berm.