Museum Sidewalk

On Saturday, November 1, 2008, Society members took advantage of a beautiful fall day by starting our long-awaited sidewalk made of vintage “Drayton” bricks. Most of the bricks were “harvested” in 2001 from the old hotel’s brick basement after the 2000 fire at the museum site. Other bricks came from a sidewalk behind the former home of Milt Steenson, whose home was part of the city’s buyout after the 1997 flood. All of the bricks have been in storage since 2001 or so. Most are presumed to have been manufactured in the old brickyard south of Drayton in the early 1900s, though none have been found to bear any markings indicating so.

After marking a design for the sidewalk, the sod was stripped, soil loosened by tilling and then removed, and a sand base prepared. Meanwhile, the bricks were brought to the site and readied by chipping off excess mortar. The sidewalk is a beautiful addition to the museum grounds.