Ronald Coleman

On 2/15/2007 at 4:34 PM, FilioScotia said:

I don't think so. Brick streets made life difficult for people with horse-drawn carriages and wagons, because, for horses, there is almost nothing more slippery than wet bricks. Bricks were put down at the advent of the automotive age to make it easier for motor vehicles to get around -- not horses. Before then, streets were unpaved dirt wagon roads, rutted and often muddy, which made driving a car anywhere a dirty and miserable experience.

Horse owners hated the brick streets because it was hard for a shod horse to have any traction, especially when it rained. And along with the rain, don't forget that at the turn of the 20th century, streets were covered with manure left behind by the many thousands of horses that plied the streets every day. I read somewhere that city workers removed thousands of pounds of manure from the streets every night. And we call that era "the good old days".

Paving streets with cement was cost prohibitive, labor intensive, and still in the future, but bricks were cheap and plentiful, and they could be put in place quickly. And I bet the mayor or somebody at city hall either owned a brick factory, or had a relative who owned one. Somebody made a lot of money from paving streets with bricks.

According to the internet, the steepest part of two streets in Pullman, Washington, in 1913, were paved with brick to provide traction for both horses and automobiles, especially during the winter.

On 10/8/2010 at 5:50 PM, silverartfox said:

I remember reading someplace that all the old streetcar tracks in Houston were pulled up during WWII as part of The War Effort. A lot of fancy wrought iron fences in The Heights were melted down as well. Hanging on to anything that could be re-purposed for our troops was considered unpatriotic.

I lived in The Heights from birth in 1945 until I went into the USAF in 1966. I can assure you that the tracks were not removed. They were still there when the Boulevard was paved over in the 1950's.

On 10/5/2010 at 4:40 PM, s3mh said:

I have a gravel driveway at my house. I dug up some of the gravel to do some landscaping and found a brick driveway about 4-5 inches down. The bricks seemed to match the bricks that were used on some of the old piers for my bungalow. Not sure whether they are from 1920, but definitely not recent.

On 10/5/2010 at 4:45 PM, Zippy said:

I've noticed that as well (the brick on Heights).. I wonder if the rail from the old street cars is still under there as well..

It would be cool if Heights had it's original brick restored, but I'm sure the durability and maintainability of asphalt is much cheaper..

On 10/8/2010 at 5:50 PM, silverartfox said:

I remember reading someplace that all the old streetcar tracks in Houston were pulled up during WWII as part of The War Effort. A lot of fancy wrought iron fences in The Heights were melted down as well. Hanging on to anything that could be re-purposed for our troops was considered unpatriotic.

On 10/5/2010 at 4:45 PM, Zippy said:

I've noticed that as well (the brick on Heights).. I wonder if the rail from the old street cars is still under there as well..

It would be cool if Heights had it's original brick restored, but I'm sure the durability and maintainability of asphalt is much cheaper..

Yes, although paved over with the brick, they are still there. 

On 10/5/2010 at 4:40 PM, s3mh said:

I have a gravel driveway at my house. I dug up some of the gravel to do some landscaping and found a brick driveway about 4-5 inches down. The bricks seemed to match the bricks that were used on some of the old piers for my bungalow. Not sure whether they are from 1920, but definitely not recent.

I remember the original brick Boulevard from the late 40's and early 50's. It was beautiful. When it was paved over in the 50's, both the brick and the trolley tracks were covered.