Map mania, gawkers welcome

Calling all history and map lovers! The city of Columbia offers more than nine pages of maps and visual information. Take a peek and let me know what maps you found the most fun and informative. You can take a look at a street map of Columbia’s brick streets, a map of Columbia’s historical properties…

Under your feet tour Saturday, Oct. 15

Love history? Love knowing about what other people miss? Here’s your chance to learn about history literally under your feet and to learn about something most people never think about — the building techniques and materials of brick streets. A free tour is set for 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016, and will be conducted…

Things that go bump in the day and the night

Interested in what you can’t see? That’s what you’ll learn about at these free downtown historic walking tours, with the first one slated for July 31, 2014. Given by members of the Historic Preservation Commission of the City of Columbia, the tours will focus on what you can — and can’t see. All four of…

The big business of bricks

Bricks once meant big bucks in Columbia, Missouri. In 1908, The Edwards Brick Co., invested $50,000 — $1.3 million in 2012 purchasing power according to MeasuringWorth.com — and employed 40 men, producing 25,000 paving bricks a day. The big buck investment was cited in Brick, Vol. 29, published in October 1908. By the time the…

Take a historic tour of Columbia’s highlights

There’s no time limit on taking this historic tour. Here’s a link to a PowerPoint presentation that basically offers a tour of Columbia’s historic highlights. This presentation was presented by Deb Sheals, a historic preservation consultant, in May 2011 at a public meeting of the Columbia Historic Preservation Commission. I love taking these kinds of…

Brick streets save money, add something priceless

Brick streets made their appearance in Columbia around the turn of the century, according to this Nov. 7, 2011 article in the Columbia Missourian. The article further notes sources say that repaving and repair the city’s brick streets could save money. While brick paving and repair costs more, brick streets last roughly 85-90 years, while…