A Jolly Good Sidewalk

Until around 1904, most Portland sidewalks were wood. In that year, a city ordinance declared no wooden sidewalks

"shall be built or constructed hereafter upon any street (in Portland in certain districts); [it is] the duty of the property owners to construct sidewalks of artificial stone, vitrified or repressed paving brick or asphalt.”

So one era ended and in this decade,

most of our “artificial stone” sidewalks are turning the century mark.



One Portlander couldn’t let the moment pass unnoticed when her sidewalk, in historic South Portland, turned 100 this year. Katie Urey, a GIS professional and board member of the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition, threw her sidewalk a party in August and I was delighted to have been invited.

Katie lured in pedestrians with neighborhood stories like that of boys at a South Portland
orphanage who ran away to find the place where the sun sets.

Around the corner, a display of old news articles brought the stories back to life.