Chattahoochee Brick Company & the Riverlands Project

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April 2026

by Kelly Calhoun of Calhoun Preservation with Kathy "Riverside Kate" Hearn

Photo Courtesy of Scape Studio

The vision for the Chattahoochee Brick Company’s includes plans to honor its past while creating opportunities for reflection, recreation, and connection to the river. Plans or the site include the creation of a park and green space, along with a memorial that will acknowledge the people who suffered under the convict leasing system at the brick works (lasting 1881-1908). The project is also closely connected to the broader Atlanta RiverLands initiative with Trust for Public Land, which seeks to develop a continuous trail along the east bank of the Chattahoochee River. The goal is to create a safe, accessible, and enjoyable riverfront corridor that links communities while expanding opportunities for outdoor recreation and environmental stewardship.

“The SCAPE team is honored to lead this thoughtful planning, design, and public engagement process to guide the transformation of the Chattahoochee Brick Company site and Atlanta RiverLands. Together, this collective work advances a crucial step toward reconnecting communities to the river, honoring history, and restoring ecology along the Chattahoochee for future generations.” - Grace Pilas, Director of Management at SCAPE Studio

Reconstruction following the American Civil War and the burning of Atlanta necessitated the rapid rebuilding of the city. During this period, paving bricks had to be largely imported from other Georgia cities, such as Macon and Augusta, at considerable expense. Although local river brick companies existed, the scale of market demand caught the attention of local building industries. The International Cotton Exposition of 1881 utilized repurposed buildings located along the Western & Atlantic Railroad in Atlanta; the exposition focused on showcasing Southern industrial potential, including the use of local building materials such as brick.

As a result of the exposition, Colonel B. G. Lockett and W. B. Lowe—his friend and fellow partner in Penitentiary Company 2—became interested in brick manufacturing. The chosen site was the clay-rich bank located along the Georgia Pacific Railroad on the east bank of the Chattahoochee River, eight miles west of the city within the area now known as the Upper Westside Atlanta. Given Atlanta’s role as the railroad center of the Southeast, locating brickyards on the east bank of the river in Fulton County was logical, as railway spurs delivered coal for the kilns and carried finished products to distant markets. The banks of the river contained abundant alluvial deposits, an ideal raw material for brick-making because they produced structurally sound bricks with relatively low water absorption.

Colonel Lockett and W. B. Lowe built adjacent brick plants. Although developed separately, the brickyards would soon combine to become the largest single brickyard in the United States. In 1882, the pre-existing B. G. Lockett & Company (composed of Colonel B. G. Lockett, Mayor James W. English, and Captain J. W. Murphy) purchased about a thousand acres of land at the site and established a brickyard, convict camp, garden, and other facilities. In 1884, the newly formed Lowe, Steele & Company (composed of W. B. Lowe, A. B. Steele, and C. E. Caverly) purchased 500 acres of land at the Bolton site near the Lockett camp and constructed their own brickyard. When Lockett retired in 1885, he sold his interest to English, who then merged with Lowe to form the Chattahoochee Brick Company along with partners George W. Parrott, A. B. Steele, and C. E. Caverly. Their "blood-red bricks" became a staple of post-war expansion in Atlanta and the surrounding areas. By 1901, the year of Lowe’s death, English had purchased the stock owned by Parrott, Peele, and Caverly, giving him controlling interest. These plain, ornamental, and oil-pressed bricks were produced at a capacity of 200,000 per day.

From 1881 to 1908, the Chattahoochee Brick Company leased an average of 175 convicts per month through the Georgia Convict Lease System, which was legalized in 1866 and abolished in 1908. Georgia legalized the leasing of convicts to replace the labor force lost after the abolition of slavery, to rebuild infrastructure, and to manage a destroyed prison system. Colonel Lockett was a prominent lessee of Georgia convict camps by at least 1876; Lowe was a partner in Penitentiary Company Two, which supplied the company with convict laborers; and English presided over Penitentiary Company Three, which loaned convicts to the brickyard at English’s discretion. As originally stated by Lockett in 1882, the system was framed as a reliable source of labor where convicts were supposedly provided with good clothes, sanitary working conditions, and on-site housing. However, the reality over the course of its 27-year history was reported as a “hell-on-earth,” citing the abandonment of responsibility for the health and comfort of these individuals.

Many men suffered, and some died on the job due to abuse and neglect. Atlanta journalist Douglas Blackmon highlights his research on forced convict labor in Georgia in his book, Slavery by Another Name, and believes that some makeshift graves still remain unidentified on the site. The system was abolished in 1908 due to its immorality and unfair competition with free labor. Even after abolition, issues such as housing, transportation, and liability persisted. In an attempt to maintain a consistent labor force, letters from company officials to the governor and prison commission show support for convicts’ requests for clemency, provided they remained employed at the brickyard.

Although a 1900 fire destroyed all buildings except the stockades (convict housing), and labor transitioned to free workers in 1909, the Chattahoochee Brick Company adapted and continued its expansion under the leadership of Harry English and succeeding presidents, including H. English Robinson, a grandson of James English. Under Robinson, coinciding with the company’s 80th anniversary in 1965, a plant addition designed by the Swindell-Dressler Co. of Pittsburgh enabled the production of 100 million bricks annually. In 1970, under the Job Opportunities in the Business Sector (JOBS) program, the company employed and trained over 100 disadvantaged, jobless people. In 1971, the company partnered with the YMCA to provide unbaked bricks for children's play programs.

In 1978, General Shale Co. of Johnson City, Tennessee, purchased the company, making it the number-two supplier of bricks in the United States. Following the sale and subsequent relocation of services, a 226-acre portion of the brickyard historically used for clay mining was abandoned; Atlanta developers later sought to claim it for an industrial park. In 1983, the city purchased the site and developed it into the Atlanta Industrial Park. In 1980, the Fulton County Airport suggested an expansion that required the acquisition of surrounding property, including 343 acres of the adjacent land, completed around 1989. Pieces of the property continued to be sold until the company shut its doors in 2002, leaving a 75-acre parcel as the only remaining part of the original site.

In 2010, the remaining buildings on the old site were demolished. Efforts by the Lincoln Terminal Company to repurpose the area as an ethanol and butane tank storage facility were swiftly vetoed by the public. Critics argued it would be shameful to forget the men and women—largely Black and subjected to heavy punishment for petty crimes—who were sold into “slavery” there, noting that a storage facility would not be a fitting memorial. Another close call occurred in 2020, when Norfolk Southern signed a lease intending to construct a bulk transloading facility for the storage of ethanol, grain, plastic pellets, and other commodities. This effort was thwarted in 2021 after the City of Atlanta took legal action to stop the development.

In 2021, a community-led “sacred site ceremony” began with a march from English Park to the defunct Chattahoochee Brick Company. A cross bearing the names of victims was erected as a tangible reminder and currently leans against the brick wall. Later that year, the state included the Chattahoochee Brick Company on its list of “Places in Peril.” The city acquired the site in 2022 with the help of The Conservation Fund and other non-profits, and is currently transforming the land into a riverfront green space, park, and memorial. Part of that process involves environmental remediation; brick-making activity contaminated the land with heavy metals, oil, and other hazardous substances. The land has been designated a "brownfield," an EPA classification for property where redevelopment is impeded by pollution.

News surrounding the historic Chattahoochee Brick Company has resurfaced with the planning of the Atlanta RiverLands, an initiative of the Trust for Public Land in partnership with the City of Atlanta Office of Design. A memorial, park, and trail are planned for the site.

Public input and participation are key to shaping the future of the Atlanta RiverLands and the Chattahoochee Brick Company site. Join them for upcoming community engagement events focused on the future of this important area.

 Visit the project website to learn more and find details about the meeting location and objectives: https://chattbrickriverlands.atlantaga.gov/