The Beehive Brick Kiln - Lorton, Virginia
Posted by: flyingmoose
N 38° 40.909 W 077° 15.202
18S E 303994 N 4283878
Located within the Occoquan Regional Park.
Waymark Code: WM154FA
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 10/14/2021
Views: 0
The last of nine kilns stands as an example for future generations on brick making. Using prison labor from the Lorton correctional facility, bricks were made while sitting in the kilns for days. Visitors cannot go into the kiln but can walk around it and look inside.
Plaque Text:
The Beehive Brick Kiln
From the turn of the century until the late 1960's nine kilns on this site were operated by inmates of the Lorton correctional facility.
The bricks were stacked inside this kiln are ready to be baked. For 4 to 5 days coal fires in each of the hearths were stoked around the clock. Hot air rose along the inside of the vaulted ceiling. Heat was sucked down through the bricks, between louvers in the floor, across an underground flue, and up the tall chimney which stands beside the kiln.
These kilns were a primary local source of the red brick used in constructing the historic durable buildings now seen throughout northern Virginia. Today beehive kilns are little used.
Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority
Type of Oven / Kiln: Brick
Status: Historical Site
Operating Dates: 1900 - 1960
Website: [Web Link]
Additional Coordinate: Not Listed
Additional Coordinate Description: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
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