Editing Cobblestone (section)

==History as road surface==
[[File:London Cab of 1823, with curtain drawn.png|thumb|A [[cabriolet (carriage)|cabriolet]] on wet, slippery London cobblestones in 1823]]

During the [[Middle Ages|medieval period]], cobblestone streets became common in many European towns and cities. Cobblestones were readily available, as they were often naturally occurring stones found in riverbeds and fields. Their rounded shape made them easy to lay, and their durability was well-suited to the needs of growing urban centers. Cobblestones are typically either set in sand or similar material, or are bound together with [[Mortar (masonry)|mortar]]. Paving with cobblestones allows a road to be heavily used all year long. It prevents the build-up of [[Rut (roads)|ruts]] often found in [[dirt road]]s. It has the additional advantage of immediately draining water, and not getting muddy in wet weather or dusty in dry weather. Shod horses are also able to get better traction on stone cobbles, pitches or setts than tarmac or asphalt. Cobblestones set in sand have the environmental advantage of being [[permeable paving]], and of moving rather than cracking with movements in the ground. The fact that [[carriage]] [[wheel]]s, [[horse]] [[hooves]] and even modern automobiles make a lot of noise when rolling over cobblestone paving might be thought a disadvantage, but it has the advantage of warning pedestrians of their approach. In England, the custom was to strew straw over the cobbles outside the house of a sick or dying person to damp the sound. In rural areas, cobblestones were sometimes used to pave important roads, particularly those leading to and from major cities.[[File:ItalianStones.jpg|thumb|upright|Italian cobblestone-covered street in [[Isolabella, Turin|Isolabella]]. Cobblestones such as these are designed for horses to get a good grip.]]In England, it was commonplace since ancient times for flat stones with a flat narrow edge to be set on edge to provide an even paved surface. This was known as a 'pitched' surface and was common all over Britain, as it did not require rounded pebbles. Pitched surfaces predate the use of regularly-sized granite setts by more than a thousand years. Such pitched paving is quite distinct from that formed from rounded stones, although both forms are commonly referred to as 'cobbled' surfaces. Most surviving genuinely old 'cobbled' areas are in reality pitched surfaces. A cobbled area is known as a "causey", "cassay" or "cassie" in [[Scots language|Scots]] (probably from ''causeway'').<ref>Scottish National Dictionary Association (1999) ''Concise Scots Dictionary ''. Edinburgh, Polygon. {{ISBN|1-902930-01-0}}</ref> In the [[early modern period]], cities like Paris, London, and Amsterdam began to pave their streets with cobblestones to manage the increased traffic from carts, carriages, and pedestrians.

[[File:LT Kaunas, 2019.07.20, fot Ivonna Nowicka (3).jpg|thumb|A cobblestone lane in the Old Town (Senamiestis) in [[Kaunas]]]]
[[File:Cobblestone in Rhodes 2019 G1.jpg|thumb|Cobblestone in [[Rhodes (city)|Rhodes]], Greece]]

Cobblestones were largely replaced by quarried granite [[Sett (paving)|setts]] (also known as Belgian block<ref name="belgianblock">{{cite news |last=Potter |first=Chris |date=14 October 2004 |title=Were Pittsburgh's original finished roads and streets paved with cobblestone, Belgian block or some other type of brick? |url=http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A27568 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614221055/http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid:27568 |archive-date=14 June 2011 |access-date=23 September 2009 |work=[[Pittsburgh City Paper]] |quote=In fact, Belgian block refers not to the type of stone but the way it is cut: in rectangles. People often refer to roads paved this way as "cobblestone streets," but that isn't strictly correct. Cobblestones are rounded, typically because they've been worn smooth by rivers. They might be hell to drive on, but they were cheap: you could just dredge them up from the river...}}</ref>) in the nineteenth century. Cobblestoned and "setted" streets gradually gave way to [[macadam]] roads  and later to [[Tarmacadam|tarmac]], and finally to [[asphalt concrete]] at the beginning of the 20th century. However, cobble&shy;stones are often retained in historic areas, even for streets with modern vehicular traffic. Many older villages and cities in [[Europe]] are still paved with cobblestones or pitched.

===Use today===
With the advent of asphalt and concrete in the 20th century, the use of cobblestones declined. These newer materials were cheaper and easier to install, leading to the replacement of many cobblestone streets. However, cobblestone streets have been preserved in many historic districts around the world, valued for their historical significance and aesthetic charm. In recent decades, cobblestones have become a popular material for paving newly [[pedestrian]]ised streets in Europe. In this case, the noisy nature of the surface is an advantage as pedestrians can hear approaching vehicles. The visual cues of the cobblestones also clarify that the area is more than just a normal street.<ref>{{cite news |last=Roy |first=Matthew K. |title=Architect: Open Salem pedestrian mall to cars, parking |url=http://www.salemnews.com/local/x2036003030/Architect-Open-Salem-pedestrian-mall-to-cars-parking |access-date=23 April 2011|newspaper=The Salem News|date=13 April 2011 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The use of cobblestones and setts is also considered to be a more "upmarket" roadway solution, having been described as "unique and artistic" compared to the normal asphalt road environment.<ref>{{cite book|last=Frances Page|first=Cecilia|title=Authentic Insights|year=2010}}</ref>

In older U.S. cities such as [[Philadelphia]], [[Boston]], [[Pittsburgh]],<ref name="belgianblock" /> [[New York City]], [[Chicago]], [[San Francisco]], [[New Castle, Delaware|New Castle]], [[Portland, Maine|Portland (Maine)]], [[Baltimore]], [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], and [[New Orleans]], many of the older streets are paved in cobblestones and setts (mostly setts); however, many such streets have been paved over with asphalt, which can crack and erode away due to heavy traffic, thus revealing the original stone pavement.

In some places such as [[Saskatoon, Saskatchewan]], [[Canada]], as late as the 1990s some busy intersections still showed cobblestones through worn down sections of pavement. In Toronto streets, setts were used by streetcar routes and disappeared by the 1980s, but are still found in the [[Distillery District]].

Many cities in Latin America, such as [[Buenos Aires]], [[Argentina]]; [[Zacatecas, Zacatecas|Zacatecas]] and [[Guanajuato, Guanajuato|Guanajuato]], in [[Mexico]]; [[Old San Juan]], [[Puerto Rico]]; [[Vigan]], [[Philippines]]; and [[Montevideo]], [[Uruguay]], are well known for their many cobblestone streets, which are still operational and in good condition. They are still maintained and repaired in the traditional manner, by placing and arranging granite stones by hand.

In the [[Czech Republic]], there are old cobblestone paths with colored [[marble]]s and [[limestone]]s. The design with three colors (red/limestone, black/limestone, white/marble) has a long tradition in [[Bohemia]]. The cubes of the old ways are handmade.