Guess which US City has the most Brick Streets? You Guessed right!
- Jon Litle
- Apr 28, 2023
- 2 min read
The brick pavers used for Pittsburgh's streets were made by a variety of different brick manufacturers over the years. Some of the most well-known brick manufacturers in the Pittsburgh area included the Allegheny Brick Company, the Pittsburgh Brick Company, the Carnegie Brick and Pottery Company, and the Wampum Brick Company.
These companies produced millions of bricks that were used to pave Pittsburgh's streets in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The bricks were typically made from clay that was found locally, particularly along the banks of the region's rivers.
Today, many of Pittsburgh's historic brick streets have been preserved, and they continue to be a distinctive feature of the city's landscape. The brick pavers used for these streets are admired for their durability, as well as their unique appearance and character. Clay Fired Bricks go through an extruder that presses the unfired brick into 20 foot columns. Then wire cutters typically cut the wet clay into 4x8 inch units. These wet clay or "green" brick are dried with industrial sized fans. Then the bricks are stacked on rail cars that go through a tunnel kiln about 120 feet long. The journey is about 3 days long and the kiln reaches a temperature of approximately 1800 degrees. This is a very energy intensive process and the wet clay is vitrified into a highly dense building material with compressive strength of about 9,000 PSI. The bricks are high in compressive strength and low in absorption that is why these streets have lasted for hundreds of years. There are over 500 brick streets still existing in Pittsburgh. Most were constructed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some of these streets are designated historical landmarks.
Some of the most well-known brick streets in Pittsburgh include Penn Avenue in the city's Strip District, which is lined with historic buildings and popular restaurants, and Sampsonia Way on the North Side, which is home to the Allegheny County Jail and the Mattress Factory museum.
Other notable brick streets in Pittsburgh include:
Canton Avenue, which is the steepest public street in the United States
Cobden Street, which features unique curving patterns in the brickwork
Roslyn Place, a small alley in the Shadyside neighborhood that is lined with historic homes and gardens
Overall, the brick streets of Pittsburgh are an important part of the city's history and cultural heritage, and they continue to be admired for their durability, aesthetic appeal, and unique character.
Comments