A couple years ago I was out for a walk and noticed this section of sidewalk at the corner of Grand View Avenue and 17th Avenue East. I liked the nice touch of stamping the street name in the sidewalk, and I was impressed at the “1926” date – meaning this concrete had survived (with a crack, but still survived) more than 80 cold winters, hot summers and annual freeze-and-thaw cycles in Duluth.
A couple of questions:
1. Can anyone beat this 1926 date and find an older section of sidewalk in town?
2. Do any other parts of town have street names stamped into the sidewalks at intersections?
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On a side note, I recently spent some time visiting my brother in Portland, Oregon. In his older neighborhood, almost all of the sidewalks have street names stamped at the corners, along with the year the sidewalk was poured. It makes for a much more interesting walk (well, the gazillion flowering trees in bloom and lush gardens in every yard help, too). There was some pretty old concrete there, too… but a sidewalk surviving eight decades of Duluth weather is much more impressive.
