Posted by Floyd Diebel 2 Comments

So, Cobblestones

10th Street has been under construction for like, ever.  The Citizen Hotel took like 2+ years (maybe more?) to finish, and after that the city decides to rip apart our alley for new sewers. Probably so the guests in the hotel have somewhere to poop. Now, the orange-vested people are back, ripping out the curb out front. Boo.

I think it’s the last bit of original cobble road in town.

This curb is particularly interesting – it’s an exposed section of the old cobblestones that used to surface 10th street, made in the days back before some Belgian dude invented asphalt. I think it’s the last bit of original cobble road in town, except for the tourist cobbles in Old Sacramento. I think.

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I was hoping to find where the cobblestones went, so I could grab some to save but they were gone too soon.  Probably landfill now.

The last time something like this happened, it was our sidewalk. The sidewalk on 10th used to have these neat skylights that let light enter into the basements under the street; these were in disrepair and so they were removed, and concrete slabs put in to replace them. Luckily I was able to get one though, and it’s in our shop now.

There’s still about 1/4 of a block’s worth of cobblestones left, so next time you’re on 10th Street between J Street and K Street Mall, take a moment to appreciate the cobblestones on the west side of the street. They might be gone soon.

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