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Alleys first originated more than 2000 years ago from Ancient Rome.
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Wood block pavement was more commonly called Nicolson pavement, invented in 1848 Nicolson wanted a safe, durable, quiet, clean way to pave the streets used by the Mill Corporation.
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In the 1850s, Samuel Greeley, was enthusiastically in favor of Nicolson pavement, writing in an 1859 Tribune article: “Wooden pavement…might have great advantages in a city, where suitable stone was scarce, where lumber was the great staple of the market, and where the foundation was new and yielding.”5 However, wood pavement was not long-lasting on heavily trafficked streets, good for at most a decade.
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In 1853, Nicolson had been contracted by the city of Boston to pave a number of streets.
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Nicolson's pavement method made it to Chicago in November 1856, when a segment of Wells Street close to the river was paved with white pine blocks, which wore down quickly, so wood favored.
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Wood (white oak) was widely used until cedar began came to be widely used after the Great Fire. Surprisingly, wood pavement, by and large, survived the fire, as it was chemically treated and did not burn easily.
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By the 1890s, wood pavement was considered by many to be an anachronistic failure. During this period, more durable and cost-efficient pavement methods like Macadam and Stone blocks came into use, as well as Belgium blocks.
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The first wooden alley was paved in 1909, the alley is one of only two wooden alleys remaining in Chicago. Wooden paving was common in the late nineteenth century in Chicago
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Today, Chicago has more than 1,600 miles of alley, which are kept to keep are city streets clean.
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The use of alleys in Chicago helps keep our city clean, unlike New York where their garbage is out on the sidewalks.
