Any hundred year old sidewalks in Detroit?...

[Islandman]

Actually, the Romans used some ingredients that did bond chemically.

http://www.romanconcrete.com/docs/spillway/spillway.htm

[townonenorth]

There is a list of sidewalks poured in residential areas in 1913, FWIW.

See here.
http://books.google.com/books?id=cuB...ewalks&f=false

[Django]

Ive always loved the old stone curbs you can still find around the city.
It cracks me up that here on the Eastside they've laid new corners with the red steel diamond plate embedded in them on every block including blocks that only have one house on them. Im speaking of just East of 75 between 94 X Warren. A desolate area where it just seemed a waste of work,
I love the new red diamond plate as Im a bit visually impared and when riding my bike it helps me see where I can ride up on a sidewalk without hitting a curb and doing an endo. I wonder what the real reason for the diamond plate is though?
Good thread.
Any pics of the swastikas?

[Krawlspace]

I wonder what the real reason for the diamond plate is though?

I believe they were installed to comply with an ADA ruling against the city, which is why they're on corners with little to no foot traffic anymore.

I can attest to the dates and swastikas [[non-inverted as the Nazi's used) in IV. I was always intrigued as a kid growing up there riding my bike as to the oldest one. As I recall 1909 was the oldest I saw. I'm thinking Seminole and St. Paul area.

Another tidbit relating to curbs in the city is the outright lack of them on several far east side streets. If you drive Neff between E. Warren and Mack for example you'll notice that on many blocks there are no curbs at all. This is a result of street laying through the WPA in the 1930's. Men were hired to grade and lay residential streets even before any developer had acquired the land to build housing. I have an aerial photo of the area that shows a huge grid of streets and no houses. Ironically, similar views can be had today with Google Earth et. al. as the houses disappear.

[DetroitVideoDaily]

I usually notice the caps for lighting for infrastructure age.
Here's a photo I snapped from the summer. - DVD

[beachboy]

Actually, the Romans used some ingredients that did bond chemically.

http://www.romanconcrete.com/docs/spillway/spillway.htm

Wow!! What an interesting article!

Here is a picture of the concrete ceiling of the Pantheon, which was
mentioned in the article:



Still curing, after more than 20 centuries...

[Al Publican]

I found another sidewalk in Vancouver, Washington a few days ago that had a contractors name and a 1910 stamp in the concrete. Near the 1910 marking was a brass geodetic marker of more recent years indicating that I was at something like 107 feet above sea level.

Are there any geodetic markers in Detroit? For all the decades that I lived in Detroit, I can't recall seeing any geodetic markers.

[BillyBBrew]

1907 on St. Paul btwn Shipherd and Van Dyke. I'll try to remember to get a photo.

[takascar]

Fun thread! Somewhat related and just as fascinating to me is solid stone curbing. There are fragments of them all over the older parts of Detroit. They are not date stamped but I often wonder how old they are. Many appear to be a red sandstone. A lot of them were lost downtown with the big sidewalk makeover prior to the Super Bowl. Will get pic soon to show.

On Bedford, between Munich and Cornwall, we used to have those red sandstone curbs - I remember them as a kid. They have long, long since been replaced with poured concrete ones.

[cramerro]

This is very interesting! I was amazed when I moved to Redford a number of years ago, that our neighborhood west of Beech just south of Six Mile has hydrants and sidewalks that are from 1928-1929. If I had to guess I'd say that signficant stretches are still original, at least 60-70% in place. Most of them still have the stamps that they put in place to number the lots... four digit stamps in the sidewalk crack where each property line ended.

The MOST interesting part of this is that most of the houses in the neighborhood were built in the 50s and 60s. It's almost as if something major happened in 1929 that set back major residential expansion... hmm [[wink wink). The sidewalks and hydrants were in place, and are over 80 years old.

[Rochelle St.]

I went on a bicycle ride today in Grosse Pointe, noticed old, pockmarked squares on St.Paul St. in the Neff and University area stamped 1928.
also a name on one, but I cant read it.

[Al Publican]

Since starting this thread, I came upon another sidewalk in Vancouver, Washington stamped "1910." The area where I live is on the edge of downtown Vancouver about a mile from the I-5 Columbia River bridge crossing, about 8 miles from downtown Portland.

In recent weeks, I have also found some "geodetic benchmarks," round brass markers somewhat smaller than a hockey puck that are embedded in concrete. The one I found indicated that this area near the Columbia River is 70 feet above sea level, if I recall the figure right. Funny that I recall seeing some geodetic markers along M-29 in Algonac on the St. Clair River, but I can't recall noticing any in Detroit. Anyone ever notice such markers where they live?

[Király]

In recent weeks, I have also found some "geodetic benchmarks," round brass markers somewhat smaller than a hockey puck that are embedded in concrete. [[...) Anyone ever notice such markers where they live?

We have them in various places here in the other Vancouver. They are marked "British Columbia Control Survey"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50318388@N00/4527017143

[Scott]

Not sure if this was shared already, but we have some sidewalks stamped 1915 up in Palmer Woods...

[robtandersen]

The sidewalk in front of my house in Hubbard Farms indicates and 188?. You tell me. The house was built in 1906 when the block was subdivided. The street was here in 1856. We also have a pair of swastika in the sidewalk about three houses down.

[robtandersen]

Related to the sidewalk question....this is an unused driveway dating to about 1912 when the house it accompanies was built. The story in the neighborhood is that it was used as the street entrance for a Model T or similar vehicle. The garage is at the back of the property at the alley. The owner would simply pull the vehicle out the drive and into the street down this steep ramp and would return through the alley, which afforded a gradual slope. The garage has bay doors on two sides, so when they return to the garage, the car is already facing the street.

[Pontiac6000]

What are the steel round posts in the ground that say 'City of Detroit Control Monument' used for? [[usu. on sidewalks). In addition, in the middle of some intersections, like at 7 Mile and Greenfield, have steel "x" markers embedded in them- I thought they were population markers? , or are they used in/for street grading or surveyors?

[robtandersen]

Looks like I'm the winner. 18---blah, blah, blah

The sidewalk in front of my house in Hubbard Farms indicates and 188?. You tell me. The house was built in 1906 when the block was subdivided. The street was here in 1856. We also have a pair of swastika in the sidewalk about three houses down.