Philadelphia Discovers the Difficulties of Restoring a Wood-Paved Street

Mimi Kirk reports on the complicated and unique history of South Camac, "one of those old, narrow Philadelphia streets with buildings that hug the sidewalk so closely they seem to spill onto it," which until last year was also "the only restored wood-paved street in Philadelphia."

Kirk details the history of South Camac as a wood-paved street, which extends back to 1917, when the collection of art and literary clubs that lined the street wanted to dampen the sound of passing horses by paving the street with wood rather than cobblestone.

A 2012 restoration of the wood paving, however, failed, when the wood quickly rotted and popped out of place. The entire street was then "embalmed" in asphalt in 2015, to use the words chosen for the headline of an article by Inga Saffron. Kirk picks up the story in the present day, with an update from Philadelphia's Streets Department about how they intend to avoid these mistakes when they once again restore the street to wood paving in 2017.