George W. Penny came to our community from the State of Maine, as did many of our early settlers. He was born in 1824. His industry and enterprise lead him to a certain understanding of the process of making bricks, and he located a clay pit perfect for his needs along what is now Grand Boulevard. He and business partner Robert Meacham established a brick making company under their names in 1854, and it prospered so that our place was briefly known as ‘Pennyville’. As a modest individual, Mr. Penny thought better of the name ‘Brickton’ which was officially adopted in 1857 with the opening of the Brickton Post Office in his new store, a building which still stands at 11 North Northwest highway. Some say that Penny’s insistence on building a passenger depot for ‘Pennyville’ residents along the commuter rail line is his larger legacy in the history of Park Ridge.
