National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet

NPS Form 10-900-A OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Continuation Sheet
Section Number: 8 Page: 7 Geneva-Minnesota Historic District, Medford, OR
Geneva and Minnesota streets. Virtually all of these fees were paid by either Knight or the one of
the Humphreys, as the original developers of the area. 14
The original paving process used on both Geneva and Minnesota streets was historically reported
to be of a material called "Brickolithic," a Portland cement-based aggregate, although in the case
of Minnesota this does not appear to have been correct. 15 Later technical descriptions referred to
the surface as "Hassam." On Geneva Street, a grid pattern was impressed into the material
surface during construction, creating a regular, brick-like, pattern that remains today. Long
assumed to have been done solely for aesthetic reasons, the pattern was historically intended to
provide better footing for horses.
Horses will have a sure footing on this pavement as a result of the
criss-cross lines or checks. Vehicles will roll over it with ease
though it is not adapted to comfortable speeding as a tremor will
result to passengers in horse-drawn vehicles or autos. 16
There is at least some possibility that this latter feature, the required reduction in speed for
vehicles traveling over the scored surface, was perceived as an inherent benefit in a residential
neighborhood. "Ease of travel might ... be a negative attribute [in a pavement type] to a
householder seeking to keep traffic off the streets where his children played." 17 In this context,
the scored surface of Geneva Street may be viewed as a continuous series of the modern "speed
bump" that still tend to reduce the speeds of passing traffic.
Although some reports indicated that the criss-cross surface treatment of Geneva Street was also
originally present on Minnesota, records at the Medford City Engineer indicate that Minnesota's
14 See Medford City Council Minutes, Ordinances Nos. 463, 544 and 556. These fairly hefty assessments, the
expenses of the "spec" houses, and the dramatic drop in the local economy after the heady growth of 1909-
1912 likely all combined to precipitate the Humphrey's financial woes mentioned above.
15 See Medford Mail Tribune. 9-March-1911 2:1, also personal communication with Mr. Guy Parker, Medford
Public Works Department, 14-December-1992.
16 "Three Blocks of Genesse Street Now Paved with Concrete," Medford Sun, 2-April-1911, 3:1. Genesse, the
next street to the west from Geneva, has since been repaved and no longer retains this original scored
surface.
17 Clay McShane, "Transforming the Use of Urban Space: A Look at the Revolution in Street Pavements, 1880-
1924," Journal of Urban History (May 1979), 298.