As City crews continue their work giving Front Street a new look, they are discovering that beneath the streets of Crescent City lies a little bit of our community’s history.
Recently, while digging approximately three to four feet below ground near the Cultural Center, workers uncovered several fascinating pieces from the past—including what appears to be an old automobile wheel, a hollowed-out redwood water pipe, and even some old beer bottles that somehow survived the years intact.
The wooden wheel immediately caught everyone’s attention. City worker Dave Yeager proudly lifted the large, dirt-covered relic for a closer look. The wheel has 12 wooden spokes, a wooden outer rim surrounded by steel, and a central hub. It is estimated to date somewhere between 1914 and 1926, placing it squarely in the era when Model T Fords and similar early automobiles were traveling America’s roads.
It is an interesting piece of history, to say the least.
Of course, as Dave stood there holding that enormous wooden wheel, I couldn’t help myself. For just a moment, I pictured him dressed in a full Fred Flintstone costume, holding onto the wheel and yelling: “Yabba Dabba Doo!”
Halloween is right around the corner, Dave. Don’t be surprised if a Fred Flintstone costume mysteriously shows up at City Hall.
But my attention quickly turned to another remarkable discovery.
Workers also uncovered what appears to be an old redwood water pipe. The pipe consists of a hollowed-out piece of redwood wrapped tightly with metal bands or wire. Looking directly through the center, you can clearly see how the wood was hollowed to allow water to pass through.
It is believed that wooden pipes such as this one were once part of Del Norte County’s early water system. Imagine relying on hollowed-out redwood to carry the community’s water beneath the ground. Today, it looks primitive, but at the time it represented the infrastructure that helped a growing community function.
Then came another little surprise from underground— old beer bottles, empty of course, but reportedly still fully intact.
Who drank them? When were they left there? Were they discarded during construction decades ago? We may never know. That is part of what makes discoveries like these so interesting.
Each object provides a small glimpse into the people who lived and worked here generations before us. Front Street may be getting a new look above ground, but underneath it, workers are uncovering reminders of the Crescent City that came before us.
A wooden automobile wheel. A redwood water pipe. Old bottles buried beneath the street.
They may have spent decades hidden beneath our feet, but today they are treasures of the past—and wonderful reminders that sometimes history isn’t found in a book.
Sometimes you just have to dig three or four feet down to find it.