Nerd Alert (but I'm cool with that)

I really like living in Johnson City, but we're not exactly known for our museums (well ... we're not exactly KNOWN). That's not to say we don't have an unknown gem, however. My daughters roll their eyes and think I'm crazy whenever I recommend people visit the Brick Museum at General Shale Brick.

General Shale Brick is a major player in the commercial brick market and their headquarters is nestled in the N. Roan split (go right, like your heading to Bristol). They have a nice new brick (surprised?!) building.

Their patio has a nice view of the mountain range east of Johnson City.

In their lobby they have three display cabinets filled with ancient bricks from all over the world (and from all over history). You should check it out. It's free and it only takes a few minutes.


You'll be treated to a 10,000-year-old brick from the walls of Jericho. Those indentations were made in order to give room for mortar to help secure the bricks in place. Those are 10,000-year-old finger prints!
This "hog-backed plano-convex brick is from a pre-pottery neolithic settlement found beneath the city of Jericho. It's the from the oldest brick wall ever found.
This brick was made by the Roman soldiers who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

You can read the tag on this one.

This brick is "scored" with fingers as well. It was found in a church called "St. John's" in Ephesus, Turkey (it's 1400 years old).
This brick dates back to the time of King David in Israel and was found in a Philistine fortress in Ashdod.

If you get the chance, stop by. Unless you hate history and archaeology, you'll be glad you did.