I'm seriously puzzled how the oldest concrete road in Michigan is not only in pretty good condition considering it's almost 120 years old, but is  in better shape than most of the roads we have over here in Kalamazoo.  Another thing that trips me up is it's in the town of Calumet, which is located in the Keweenaw Peninsula, and we all know how much more brutal winters are in the Upper Peninsula than in the lower. So what's the magic elixir they mixed in their concrete to make it last the test of time? One person went to discover just this:

Calumet is the home of many impressive buildings and historic sites from a time when it was the center of Michigan’s copper mining industry. We love stopping in Calumet any time we visit the Keweenaw Peninsula and we always seem to find something new that we haven’t seen before. A few years ago while visiting we stumbled across a small plaque denoting the road at the intersection of Portland St. and Seventh St. as “Michigan’s Oldest Concrete Pavement.” Today we will share some views of this still-surviving historic street as well as some of the information we were able to track down about it.

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Back in the early 1900's there was a material called “granitoid” which was a combination of materials that was used before the modern day concrete pavement substance. This granitoid was extremely durable and many believed it had a much longer lifespan than alternatives at the time like paving bricks, and was way cheaper to not only produce but costs less in labor for installation.

We need someone to cook some of this stuff up and start slabbing some in our roads. I'm curious why we aren't using it today, especially since it CLEARY is doing pretty good for 120.

America's Oldest Still-operating Grocer is is Michigan

 

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