George Wells Bartholomew Jr. (August 24, 1848 – March 1, 1933) was an American inventor who is credited with the invention of

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

pavement.

Early life and education

Bartholomew was born in

Bristol, Connecticut Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, southwest-west of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The city is also 120 miles southwest from Boston, and approximately 100 miles northeast of New York City. The ...

, the son of George W. Bartholomew Sr. and Angeline Ives Bartholomew. His father was a clock manufacturer. He learned about cement production in Germany and San Antonio, Texas.

Career

Bartholomew owned a hardware store in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. In 1886, Bartholomew moved to Bellefontaine,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, after having learned about

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

production. Bartholomew found a good source of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

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. His company created a town, Marl City, Ohio, now deserted. 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 is the name of ten current counties and one former county in the United States: * Logan County, Arkansas * Logan County, Colorado * Logan County, Idaho (1889–1895) * Logan County, Illinois * Logan County, Kansas * Logan County ...

courthouse. This experiment proved successful, and the council approved the pavement of Court Avenue. Bartholomew was honored for his invention at the

World Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The c ...

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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 adopted throughout the United States and internationally. Bartholomew moved to Colorado by 1910, where he worked for Colorado Portland Cement Company.

Personal life and legacy

Barstow married Hettie Julia Cole before 1880. They had sons Linn, Tracy, and Richard, and daughter Grace and Lucy. His eldest son, Linn, died in Puerto Rico in 1918. Barstow died in 1933, in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

, at the age of 84. In Bellefontaine, a section of Court Avenue remains paved today with Bartholomew's formula, celebrated as the first concrete paved street in America. The street section was restored in 1962. In 1991, the city of Bellefontaine hosted a centennial celebration for Bartholomew's successful street paving. They erected a statue of Bartholomew and held a parade; Bartholomew's grandson George A. Bartholomew gave a speech to dedicate the statue.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartholomew, George 1848 births 1933 deaths 19th-century American inventors People from Bristol, Connecticut People from Bellefontaine, Ohio