Guignard Brick Works Ruins in Columbia

Photos and article by FastFred Ruddock

Only four round and massive brick kilns remain of the former Guignard Brick Works located on the west side of the Blossom Street Bridge in Cayce. The plant produced bricks for the better part of 200 years when it was closed in 1974. Many textile mills such as Olympia, Granby, Richland and Capital City were built with bricks made here on the banks of the Congeree River. Guignard Brick Works Ruins became listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. Three of the four remaining klins date cica 1900 while a fourth was built in 1932 to replace one destoried by a fire. This is an interesting place to visit although old faded signs state the area is posted.