Blocks in the Wild: Victorian Village II

Victorian Village is as much as a bricktopia as German Village.  Among the best examples of Victorian Era Opulence is this area of sidewalk pavers. While it was common to pave the sidewalks with common bricks, the affluent could afford to upgrade to a higher grade of sidewalk paver.  You can find this excellent example a paver paved sidewalk near the corner of Lundy and Dennison.

Take a look below, these pavers look like Haydenville Sidewalk Pavers….but they are not, or at least they are a different version of them. The difference can be seen in the center area of the paver seen below.

These pavers were typically laid in a diagonal herringbone pattern. Most likely, they have been in the same spot since sometime between 1890 and 1910. The process was pretty easy, not unlike playing with Legos, but, these Vitrified Pavers are tough. The bricklayers in the past were adept at cutting these bricks at angles. I have experimented on a few broken examples and I have yet to figure out the cutting technique that might work on these.

Blocks in the Wild: German Village Part IV – Redbud Alley

Just south of Schiller Park, bordered by East Deshler to the North, Parsons Ave. to the East, Thurman Ave. to the south and City Park Ave. to the west lies Redbud alley.

The alley has at least 18 different styles of bricks paving the alley.  The most common is Athens Block.  If you have the time and a keen eye, you can walk the length of the alley to see how many  other styles of brick you can find.  Some are clustered together, others line the perimeter of the alley or are obscured with gravel – all in all it is a good introduction to the variety of pavers used.  As guessed at in the article I linked in the first paragraph, the alley was probably paved with scraps from other street paving projects in the area and placed down face up to get more paving space on a lightly traveled alley way.

Flower Pattern Sidewalk Paver

Name: Flower Pattern (8 Point Flower/Star Pattern)

Dimensions: 10 1/2 inches long, 5 inches wide, 2 1/2 inches height

Location Found: Columbus Architectural Salvage 

Notes: produced at East Clayton Plant / Nelsonville Block Plant #3

Weight: 10 lbs

File this under the “one that got away category”.  I found a pallet of these and they go for $10 each.  I offered to trade three pavers for one of these but the place does not barter (they would have tripled their money on the deal I offered).  My code will not allow me to pay money for a block (heavens knows I have paid for them with time, minor injuries, loss of reputation and etc.) so I would not let myself buy one.

Noble

Name: Noble

Dimensions: 9  inches long, 4 inches wide, 3 1/2 inches height

Location Found:  Cambridge, OH

Weight: 10 lbs

Features: Two long lugs

Other information: Made by Noble Brick Co. Ava, OH.  (Noble County)

Read more -> HERE

Blocks in the Wild: Victorian Village (Columbus)

Victorian Village, just north of downtown Columbus is a brick-a-topia.  Many of the streets are still in block form, having been freshly laid when the area was in bloom in the late 1890′s.  One place to see a variety of bricks is near a destination you would want to check out anyway.  Basi Italia is a great restaurant in the area.  Located near the intersection of Highland Ave. and Buttles, the block paved alley-like road that leads to the front door of the establishment has a few good face up examples of several different block types.  Let’s take a tour.

Trimble Block

Hallwood Block and (upside down Athens Block)

Nelsonville Block and Nelsonville Block with the N and S reversed

Nelsonville Block

The Nelsonville Block was the one that tipped the scale from passing interest to very focused obsession on block finding. Having found a few Hocking blocks, I came across one mangled, partial Nelsonville Block.  It was not enough to keep but it did compel me to keep looking in the area (with the intensity of someone on an Amber Alert search or a metal detector enthusiast on virgin soil).  There may have been some digging in the manner of a Tomb raider at the first block retrieval site.  To make a long story short, that Nelsonville Block fragment was a fluke and the site only yielded Hocking Blocks and some Dunn Process stamped blocks.

I continued looking in other places for the elusive Nelsonville Block.  Fortunately / unfortunately about the same time, I found a need to have a hobby that entailed having long amounts of time by myself in secluded areas with occasional eureka moments of discovery occurring just often enough to continue but not so often or easily that I could  wrap up my quest in a few weekends.  The  time to myself – unplugged from the world did me good when I needed it the most and gave me some interesting perspectives on life as I continued to find homeless folks in odd places and sweated out a lot of toxins in my body hauling heavy loads of blocks up steep hills.

Name: Nelsonville Block (raised letters)

Dimensions: 9  inches long, 4 inches wide, 3 1/2 inches height

Location Found:  Franklinton

Weight: 10 lbs

More information: The raised letter blocks are older than the other versions listed below.

Find out more about Nelsonville Blocks in the links below:

http://www.ohioexploration.com/nelsonvillebrick.htm

http://bricksofohioblog.wordpress.com/2012/10/13/blocks-in-the-wild-nelsonville-block-city-usa/

http://bricknames.com/brick/details/541

Name: Nelsonville Block (Triangle Lugs) 

Dimensions: 8 3/4  inches long, 4 inches wide, 3 3/4 inches height

Location Found:  Weiland Park

Name: Nelsonville Block (Large Round Lugs) 

Dimensions: 8 3/4  inches long, 4 inches wide, 3 3/4 inches height

Location Found:  Weiland Park

Name: Nelsonville Block (Small Round Lugs) 

Dimensions: 9 1/2  inches long, 4 inches wide, 3 1/2 inches height

Location Found:  Weiland Park

Name: Nelsonville Block (Small Round Lugs) 

Dimensions: 8 3/4  inches long, 3 3/4 inches wide, 3 3/34 inches height

Location Found:  Weiland Park

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Name: Nelsonville Block (Various styles below) 

Several other styles of Nelsonville Block exist.  They vary by size, amount of glaze/vitrification, font, other features, etc.  These are three more slightly different types of Nelsonville Block I have in my collection.

Nelsonville Block (Reversed Letters)

The reversing of letters on Nelsonville Blocks is rare, but only in relation to the millions of blocks that were made over the course of several decades.  In my searches I have found 1 and 1/2.  I have seen examples at the two brick swaps I have attended and I have seen several photos online .

This is my example – the N’s and the S are reversed.