Do you live in an area that still has original old cobblestone streets, walkways or plaza’s?  We are gathering information and photos of historic streets and historic roads from around the 50 states. Please send your photos or information and we will share it here!

First up, Minneapolis Minnesota!

Nicollet Island/East Bank is a neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota, across the Mississippi River from downtown. Old cobblestone lines the street which is also home to the old Pillsbury Flour Mill.

The “East Bank” portion of the neighborhood is commonly referred to as a part of Northeast or Old St. Anthony, an area dating back to 1872. Due to its close proximity to downtown, the area has seen a wave of revitalization.

6th Avenue by Lisa Peter

6th Avenue by Lisa Peter

From the blog, ‘Bridge Number Nine’ about the Minneapolis area, the author took a great photo of cobblestones! She explained that these were setts not cobblestones… however we suggest the word cobblestone  is more recognizable and most definitely inter-changeable with the term sett or even Belgian Block.

The word cobblestone historically comes from the blending of two words, cob and stone. The word cob in Old English meant a “rounded lump”. “Cobble” appeared in the 15th century adding the suffix “le” to “cob”, furthering the description of small stones rounded by the flow of water. It was these smooth rounded “cobbles” gathered from stream beds, that paved the first “cobblestone” streets as far back as the Roman times. They were however very uncomfortable to travel over, and soon lost their appeal, giving way to hand-cut or ‘dressed’, relatively flat paving stones called setts or cubes. An earlier post of ours will reveal more about the history of these types of paving stones.

With time, the true meaning of these terms gave way to what we here in the U.S. generically refer to, as cobblestone which is the accepted term given to paving stones whose length and/or width should not usually be greater than twice the thickness.

Send us your favorite cobblestone street images and we will share it here!