Camac Street gets its wood back
Two walkers cross Camac Street just north of Locust Street. Much of Camac Street’s 200 block, once one of Philadelphia’s only wood-paved streets, is now covered with wood again. Photo by Jim Murphy, author of “Real Philly History, Real Fast.”
Black locust wood to the rescue
This time, though, the city used black locust wood, known for being strong and rot-resistant.
That’s good. Because several previous efforts to lay down wooden pavers on this street have failed.
Historically, this block between Walnut and Locust Street was paved with wood blocks. Why? Because wood was thought to be quieter than Belgian block or granite block during the heyday of horse-drawn carriages.
But horse urine soaked the wooden blocks, they wore out quickly and they smelled bad. And wood pavers didn’t stand up well to heavy automobiles.
So, the city replaced the wood pavers in 2000, 2008 and 2012, then removed them before the visit of Pope Francis in 2015.
Now they are back again on this one block, hopefully for a long stay.
Some Sources:
https://hiddencityphila.org/2014/03/little-clubs-on-a-wooden-street/
https://whyy.org/articles/spotted-temporary-fixes-for-part-of-camac-street-s-wooden-block/
https://www.inquirer.com/news/camac-street-philadephia-wood-pavers-20240906.html
https://www.phillyvoice.com/camac-street-wood-street-repaving-walnut-locust-historic