Two Decades in the Making, a Collection Built Brick by Brick

JOURNAL: ISSUE 2 - 2013

Local 7 OH retiree Rich Nagy, in front of the brick structure he built with engraved bricks that he has collected for more than two decades.

If each engraved brick has a story behind it then retired Local 7 Ohio Life Member Rich Nagy is surely a master storyteller. 

Brother Nagy, 75, has been searching and collecting all kinds of engraved bricks since 1992. His impressive collection now totals approximately 3,000, including bricks that date back to the early 1800s and some from overseas. 

Brother Nagy says he got into brick collecting after seeing an ad in a masonry magazine for a brick swap meet in Indiana. "Although I didn't attend that event, I joined the International Brick Collectors Association shortly thereafter. I began attending brick swap meets and that's how it got started." 

The first piece Brother Nagy received – a cord brick from a torn down building in Akron – was sent by a friend. "The brick has an out-of-state name on its back with unusual holes in it," explains Nagy. His favorite piece, however, is a brick from Afghanistan. "An apprentice of mine who was serving in military risked his life while on active duty to procure the brick for me," he adds. 

When Brother Nagy retired in 2007, he began building a brick structure using all the bricks he had collected over the years. Today, two floors of this remarkable structure hold most of his collection, which, according to him, "is still a work-in-progress." 

 
Just a few of the more than 3,000 bricks collected by Brother Nagy.