Portland: The Sidewalk Stamp Capital of North America?

While wandering Portland’s Slabtown neighbourhood, I became intrigued by the many early 20th century sidewalk stamps I encountered. What is a sidewalk stamp? It is the longstanding tradition that when a new sidewalk is being poured, the contractor “stamps” the concrete with the name of their company and the year. In the early 20th century they also stamped the name of the street at the corners.

They can be found in older neighbourhoods across North America, but many have disappeared with redevelopment. Consider them urban pictographs.

This sidewalk stamp is unique in that it has the exact date the sidewalk was poured. I have never seen this before and an example of it.

I immediately tweeted photos of a few of them to Alan Zakrison, Calgary’s “sidewalk stamp guru,” thinking I had made a new discovery. And damn it, he knew all about them and challenged me to find a stamp older than Portland’s earliest known stamp dated 1902.

Never one to turn down a challenge, for the rest of our two-week Portland adventure, I kept my head down and my eyes open wherever we went. While I never did find one earlier than 1902, I did find two 1902 stamps, both just a few blocks from where we were staying in Slabtown.

I am sure by now you are wondering “What’s with the name Slabtown.” Turns out the area was once dominated by lumber mills that sold slabs of log edges, cut into square logs and sold to workers as a cheap source of fuel for their homes. Today, the neighbourhood is quickly being transformed into a trendy urban village, however, some of its industrial heritage is still intact, making it a fun neighbourhood to explore.

Portland Sidewalk Stamp Slideshow

Portland Sidewalk Stamps 101

Turns out there is a map of Portland’s Sidewalk Stamps, which I didn’t find until I started doing research for this blog. Even without the map, I did pretty good. For me though it is more fun to find these urban fossils on my own, than to systematically look for them.

I love the fact Portland has retained so many of its historic sidewalk stamps.

I understand that while they try to keep as many of the old stamps as they can, but if they are beyond repair, then the new sidewalk is stamped with the old date, as well as the new date to respect local history. What a good idea!

While other cities have sidewalk stamps in some of their older neighbourhoods, Portland seems to have them everywhere - not just in the city centre but in communities much further out. I was always excited when I found a new one.

Another quirky and perhaps unique thing about Portland’s sidewalks is that you will find the occasional metal ring cemented into the curbs. They are also relics from the early 20th century when Portlanders had to tie up their horse-drawn buggies and wagons in front of businesses and homes. In a couple of cases, I found toy horses tied up to the rings by some clever Portlanders with a sense of humour, who want to keep their city weird.

You can also find places where the old sidewalk stamp name and the current street name don’t match. That is because as Portland grew and different villages and towns were amalgamated some streets had the same name so they had to change them like Maple Street to Maple Avenue.

Link: Map of Interesting PDX Sidewalk Stamps

I believe this is a modern stamp that tell the history of the Portland’s street car.

Calgary’s Sidewalk Stamp Guru

Calgarian Alan Zakrison has a collection of old Calgary sidewalk stamps in his yard. He began rescuing old stamps in 2008 when he found out a 1912 stamp was going to be replaced near his home. He and a neighbour rescued it and a new hobby was began! The City of Calgary now tries to keep old sidewalk stamps and integrate them into the replacement sidewalk whenever possible, however, there is no formal preservation policy.

Calgary Sidewalk Stamps

21st Century Sidewalk Stamping

In 2008, St. Paul Minnesota started stamping 700 pieces of poetry into their new sidewalks. This public art project called “Everyday Poems for City Sidewalk” used poems submitted by local residents, rather than famous poets. Cambridge Massachusetts developed a similar program.

I have also seen this in Edmonton’s new Quarters District and Ice District. In Vancouver, I have seen leaves imprinted in sidewalks to create a fun pedestrian experience.

Link: Sidewalk Poetry

Last Word

Sidewalk stamps are a charming connection to the past; something every city needs. I don’t know for sure that Portland is the “Sidewalk Stamp Capital of North America,” but it must be a contender. I have never found as many stamps in any other cities I have visited.