The first brick paved street in America

Did you know the first brick paved street in America was in Charleston, Wv? Summers street. Some people say first in the world, but im pretty sure they were doing it in other parts of the world first. I mean the ancient Romans were building stone streets. Anyway, back to Summers street...

     In 1870 a Charlestonian named Mordecai Levi had an idea for the streets of his City that he thought would be better than the hard packed dirt streets that turned to mud when it rained. His idea... Bricks. I'm not real sure how he got permission but he started paving Summers street that year and he was done by 1873. You gotta remember this was a time of horse and buggy, so I'm sure brick streets were a game changer.
     I found a letter sent to the Centennial Commission of west virginia that said the street was on exhibit at the Chicago fair in 1933 after being confirmed to be the first in the U.S.

Edit- I forgot to mention that this project was funded by John P. Hale (a prominent Charlestonian who led the project of bringing the state Capitol building to Charleston from Wheeling)



Sources
Emily Gallagher, 2013,west virginia was first state to have brick streets,timeswv.com

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