George Bartholomew was an American inventor who is credited with the invention of

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most ...

pavement. 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. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, 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 m ...

production. Bartholomew found a good source of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay part ...

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 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, K ...

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

Court Avenue Court Avenue is a small street in downtown Bellefontaine, Ohio, United States, located adjacent to the Logan County Courthouse. First paved in 1893, it is known for being the first street in the United States to be paved with concrete.

. 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 The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

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.

External links

"Oldest Concrete Street in the United States" Concrete International March 2002
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartholomew, George 19th-century American inventors People from Bellefontaine, Ohio Year of birth missing Year of death missing