History literally surfaced at Troll’s Knoll Park in mid-October when a volunteer was digging a hole and hit something hard beneath the soil. Turns out it was a street paving brick from the legendary Denny-Renton Clay Company.
These bricks have quite a story. By 1917, the Denny-Renton Clay Company was reportedly the world’s largest producer of street paving brick, manufacturing them in Renton and shipping them throughout the nation. The bumps on the underside weren’t just decoration, they maintained proper spacing between bricks and left room for the thin mortar that bound them.
The company was founded by Orion Denny, the first non-Native boy born in Seattle, who left his career as a maritime engineer after the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 when brick construction became the preferred building method.
Friends of the Troll’s Knoll are looking for a museum or Denny family member who might be interested in the brick. If no takers emerge, they’re considering incorporating it into a future art or gardening project at the park, said Leo Griffin, President of the FOTK.
