"City and town streets" Topic

I have a Peter Pig 1:600 model to paint up as a riverside town. It is a group of buildngs cast on a base. These include a rather grand building such as a courthouse as well as commercial type buildings.

My query is what colour to paint the street running through it? I am thinking of the like of Vicksburg, rather than a wild west town in the middle of nowhere.

For a non-dirt road in a well established town, I would go with gray covered in dirt.

Here are some pictures of Civil War Vicksburg…for those showing streets, the streets are not paved or cobbled, but are dark and look like they may be dirt covered with cinders in the high traffic areas. I suppose it could be an early type of asphalt/bitumen (which was in use as early as 1820s) or macadam.

link

What Crispy said. Even supposedly paved streets and roads soon became covered with dust/mud (and horse droppings) aka dirt. IIRC, the primary streets of Washington were supposedly paved, but didn't look it, being covered with dirt.

The Macadam process was a form of paving, involving crushed gravel, but I'm not sure it was used on city streets, mostly main highways, I think, especially turnpikes (to pay for the paving).

Does anyone know when paving city streets in brick started?

Many thanks.

From a fellow gamer who is a Civil War researcher and used to work at the Old Courthouse Museum in Vicksburg:

Vicksburg's streets were unpaved during the Civil War, so the proper color would be a black dirt color.

Jim

Dark dirt it is then.

Thanks,

Alan