George Bartholomew was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 inventor who is credited with the invention of concrete

Concrete

Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

 pavement. In 1886, Bartholomew moved to Bellefontaine

Bellefontaine, Ohio

Bellefontaine is a city in and the county seat of Logan County, Ohio, United States. The population was 13,069 at the 2000 census. It is the center of the Bellefontaine Micropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau in 2003...

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, after having learned about cement

Cement

In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...

 production. Bartholomew found a good source of limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 and clay

Clay

Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...

 in the area; from this, he hoped to create an artificial stone for paving. Bartholomew founded the Buckeye Portland Cement Company and set about developing a new cement for pavement.

In 1891, the Bellefontaine city council approved the use of Bartholomew's invention for paving a test strip on Main Street outside the Logan County

Logan County, Ohio

Logan County is a county in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 45,858. The county seat is Bellefontaine. The county is named for Benjamin Logan, who fought Native Americans in the area....

 courthouse. This experiment proved successful, and the council approved the pavement of Court Avenue

Court Avenue

Court Avenue is a small street in downtown Bellefontaine, Ohio, United States, located adjacent to the Logan County Courthouse. Constructed in 1891, it is known for being the first street in the United States to be paved with concrete.-Early history:...

. A section of Court Avenue remains paved today with Bartholomew's formula, celebrated as the first concrete paved street in America.

Bartholomew was honored for his invention at the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois in 1893. His award was titled, "First Place for Engineering Technology Advancement in Paving Materials." This award lent credibility to Bartholomew's technique, and it was quickly adoped throughout the United States and internationally.

External links

• "Oldest Concrete Street in the United States" Concrete International March 2002