Crawfordsville's First Paved Street - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

Mayor Elmore laid the first brick on the first paved street ever built in the town more celebrated for its poets and authors and its spirit of conversatism than for street improvements. He did this much for Crawfordsville on Wednesday morning at 8:30. By some strange over sight there was no clanger of bell and blast of factory whistle. There was no military pageant, no flaunting of flag, beat of drum, roar of cannon nor blare of band. There were not over 50 men present and no women except a girl in a faded mother hubbard and a slat sun bonnet. She took off her bonnet and busied herself running a broken toothed comb through her tangled hair while the hearty looking mayor hurried over a short speech of about a hundred words in which he said it made the cockles of his heart throb, or words to that effect, to see the initial work at last being done on a line that he had always advocated and which he had promised the people he would see accomplished if he were chosen for Mayor of the growing old town. "Fore three long years I have struggled along with the end in view that I might see the work of paving the streets begin. We have floundered through the mud so many years that I was often cast down but never discouraged and I thank the city council for the brave support it has given me," said Mayor Elmore with great feeling and then leaned over his portly form and almost lost his balance placing the first brick on the smoothed off bed of sand. There was some hand clapping and then a little army of men, each bearing six of the nine pound paving bricks on a board, began to assemble the Poston blocks on the cub, and immediately so fast that the eye of man could scarce keep count of them three skilled brick layers placed the paving blocks in place. It was marvelous how rapidly the three men laid the brick. Eager spectators who had worried themselves in thin flesh with fear that there would never be any paved streets in the city acknowledged that all their forebodings were misplaced. Their faces brightened. The work has been in a measure delayed during the week of the non-arrival of crushed rock from Dooley's Station and by the slow delivery of paving brick. Several kilns of brick are now cooling and there will be no more delays except on account of bad weather till the mile and a half of brick streets is laid and the work of crowning the council thereby consumated whether it be for their personal weal or woe at the next election deponent knoweth not, not being a mind reader. But you can't take the paving away - kbz