FELLS POINT COBBLESTONE STREETS
A TRIP BACK IN TIME!

Fells Point is named after the Englishman William Fell, who founded a ship-building company here in 1726 that went on to produce the famous “Baltimore Schooners”. This charming area has waterfront streets – most paved in granite cobblestone – dating from the 18th century.

William Fell purchased the peninsula in 1726, seeing its potential for shipbuilding and shipping. Starting in 1763 his son Edward and his wife, Ann Bond Fell, divided and sold the land. Soon docks, shipyards, warehouses, stores, homes, churches, and schools sprang up, and the area quickly grew into a bustling seaport.

The notoriously speedy clipper ships built here annoyed the British so much during the War of 1812 that they tried to capture the city, a move resulting in Fort McHenry’s bombardment. The notable African-American Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. worked at a shipyard at the end of Thames Street and lived in Fells Point from 1820 to 1838. Around the 1840s the shipbuilding industry started to decline, in large part because of the rise of steamships, which were being constructed elsewhere.

Today the well-preserved cobblestone streets, stores, restaurants, taverns and homes give you a feeling little has changed since it was founded several hundred years ago. Fells Point has so much to offer, an entire day can easily be filled by wandering the charming cobblestone streets.

The History of Cobblestone in the United States

Cobblestones are a strong, natural material, originally collected from riverbeds where the flow of the water made them round. When set in sand or bound with mortar, cobblestones once proved perfect for paving roads. With the strength of cobblestone, no ruts developed in the streets. The surface remained flexible, so it wouldn’t crack during freezes. The stones also wouldn’t easily crack due to any normal movement on the road. Cobblestones prevented a road from getting muddy when it rained or from getting dusty in dry weather. If a stone did need replacing for any reason, it was easily dug up and a new one put in its place. Read more about the history of cobblestone in the U.S.A below.

Though commonplace in Europe, cobblestones were also used extensively in the United States. In the 1800s, most cobblestones arrived on ships from Europe as ballast. The cobblestones were then configured into city roads. In the mid-1800s in Philadelphia, most of the city streets were cobblestone. Today, Elfreth’s Alley is still paved with old cobblestones. In Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill North, a cobblestone street lined with beautiful, historic homes still exists.

Cobblestone streets in the historic district of Charleston, South Carolina have now been preserved as well. These streets, made up of used cobblestones, also came over in ships from Europe and were eventually repurposed as pavement for the city’s roads. By the late 18th century, more than ten miles of streets in Charleston were ultimately paved with the old cobblestones.

In Omaha’s Old Market district, the cobblestone streets date back to the late 1800s, when the area used to serve as a railroad center. Now it’s a popular entertainment center. In Minneapolis, original cobblestones still pave Main Street — the oldest street in that city. When exploring Old Town Alexandria in the state of Virginia, one can find Captains Row lined with old homes and cobblestone streets. In Boston, you’ll find Acorn Street on Beacon Hill paved with antique cobblestone. It’s known as the most photographed street in the United States.

Historically, cobblestones were not only used for roads but for buildings as well. Cobblestones were once found in the Finger Lakes region of New York and used in architecture before the Civil War. Many of the old cobblestone buildings still standing today are in or near Rochester, New York, where the style was prominent.

Most existing cobblestone buildings are now private homes, such as the Walling Cobblestone Tavern in Wayne County, New York. The two-story, gable-roofed tavern — built around 1834 from irregular, multicolored cobblestones — is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. However, some public, cobblestone buildings do still exist today. In Wayne County, a historic one-room schoolhouse remains standing. Constructed of cobblestones in the early 1800s, the builders of the Roe Cobblestone Schoolhouse used the same type of cobblestones as used with the Walling Tavern. It’s now a schoolhouse museum, operated by the Butler Historical Society.

Another public cobblestone building is the Alexander Classical School in Alexander, New York. This three-story school was first erected in the 1830s with cobblestone. After being used for a variety of purposes throughout the years, it was finally remodeled in the 1990s, restoring it to its natural beauty with reclaimed cobblestone to keep its historic charm. The building now contains a museum.

Due to their uniqueness and beauty, old cobblestones are once more becoming popular building materials. Old cobblestone, where the surface of the stones became smooth through years of activity, is now used to pave driveways or for use on patios, walkways, and more. For additional information about authentic, antique cobblestones for building projects or to restore properties, please contact us today. Reclaimed or used cobblestones uphold “green” building principles, and they add a unique beauty to any residential or commercial property.

 

What Do You Really Know about Cobblestone?

Cobblestone roads are uncommon these days. At one time, however, road builders used cobblestones in many cities and towns. Building contractors also used them to create buildings.

What do you really know about cobblestone history? Let’s take some time to explore the history of cobblestone streets in a little depth.

True cobblestones, the building material made of small, natural stones with edges smoothed by water, have been around for centuries. In England, the term cobblestone first appeared in the 15th Century when towns wanted to make trade routes and traveling from town to town more reliable and sturdier than the old dirt roads. Actually, though, it was the Romans who first invented cobblestone streets. The first recorded cobblestone roads appeared in Rome’s unparalleled network of roads in the third century.

The term cobblestone refers to the smooth, round shape of the stones that workers picked up in rivers and streams. Cobblestones were cheap and they were plentiful. They generally range between 2 and 10 inches in size. They were laid together by hand without any tools in a sort of jigsaw puzzle configuration. Cobblestones were generally laid in sand or sometimes set in mortar if the road owner were wealthy. Cobblestone roads are serviceable. They do not get muddy or rutted by rain like the old dirt roads that needed fixed each spring. Granite cobblestone pavers do not break easily and when they do they are easily replaced with new cobblestones by hand.

Are cobblestone streets still in view in Europe?

In Europe, there are still a few true cobblestone streets. In general, however, what many people think of as cobblestone streets are really pitched surface roads. Pitched surface roads use flat stones that have a narrow edge. Builders set the stones on their edges instead of flat on the ground. Builders made pitched surface roads long after cobblestone streets but 1,000 years before man-made setts.

Setts consist of granite that men mined from quarries and then shaped into a rectangular shape. These rectangular blocks (Belgian Blocks) are then used to make street surfaces.

When did cobblestones come to the US?

During the 17th century in New York, the city streets began to change from oyster shell and dirt roads to cobblestone streets. The original cobblestone streets used the rounded stones but later the construction materials gave way to Belgian Block. Belgian Block was the construction material until the mid-19th century when concrete replaced cobblestones because it was cheaper to use. Street builders poured concrete over the Belgian Block and later asphalt did the same.

There is a restoration movement afoot in New York and many of the old cobblestone streets are in the process of finding their original glory. Where asphalt and concrete have broken from wear and tear of the last centuries, the restoration rules require that builders use the original material upon restoration.

In addition, firms that carry antique cobblestone (also called vintage cobblestone) and reclaimed cobblestone are in great demand for construction projects for private residences, including driveways, fireplaces, walls, patios, or the buildings themselves. One such firm states that its reclaimed cobblestones are granite pavers that are 150-200 years old and will last forever. They mostly come from old streets in turn-of-the-century mill towns and old seaports. Most of the 17th and 18th century cobblestones in the US are actually Belgian Block.

There is something magical about cobblestones. Walking on the natural, water-smoothed stones transports pedestrians back in time to a less complicated and more romantic time when the clip-clop of horseshoes echoed with each step and gaslight street lamps pushed back the night.

 

For more information contact  Gavin Historical Bricks HERE or HERE