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EZ Content Blueprint
Downtown Development:  The Brick and Mortar Phase

STANDARDS

The material in this unit may be used to address the following Social Studies Standards:

E-1A-H2
E-1B-M2
G-1B-M1
G-1D-E2
H-1A-E3
E-1A-M9
G-1B-E4
G-1C-H2
H-1A-M4
H-1B-E2

TIMEFRAME:

c. 1890 - c. 1955

The eras of World War I and the 1920s generally were the best years of the brick and mortar phase. These times were especially good for small towns because they served rural areas as far as ten to twenty miles away, and their economies grew accordingly.

For the next twenty years after 1929 downtown streetscapes changed little due first to the Great Depression and then to World War II.

CHARACTERISTICS OF TOWNS IN THE BRICK AND MORTAR PHASE

During the brick and mortar phase, commercial districts developed into densely packed, highly centralized areas as business activity increased.

The number of houses mixed in with commercial buildings decreased, but some houses remained.

Building materials changed from wood to brick and mortar construction:
  • Fire destroyed the wooden shopping district of many Louisiana towns between 1890 and the early years of the twentieth century.

  • Economic booms of the 1890s (associated with the arrival of the railroad and/or the lumber and rice industries) and 1916-1923 (the oil and gas industry) provided the prosperity necessary to replace wooden buildings with fire-proof structures.

  • Materials believed to be fire-proof included brick and mortar for walls, cast iron facades, metal window blinds, and corrugated iron roofs.

  • The use of glass for windows increased at this time, resulting in storefronts for the displaying merchandise and better lighted interiors.


The use of brick for construction was considered an indication of growth, maturity, and endurance.

Problems of unpaved muddy or dusty streets, unpleasant odors, insects, etc. continued well into the Brick and Mortar Phase. However, as the twentieth century progressed, important improvements downtown addressed these concerns. These advancements included:

  • Municipal gravity water systems


  • Full time fire departments or better functioning volunteer ones


  • Widening and paving of streets with bricks or all weather coating


  • Improved drainage through street grading


  • Wooden sidewalks replaced by concrete or brick sidewalks


  • Better street lights


  • Screens


  • Indoor flush toilets and better sewer systems


  • Regular garbage collection


  • Arrival of the telephone


  • Arrival of electricity, which:
    • allowed stores to stay open at night
    • allowed replacement of horse or mule-pulled streetcars by electric streetcars