100 Years of History Revealed Thanks to Minnesota Pothole

More and more potholes are starting to pop up around Minnesota. Tis the season, right? And potholes are usually the worst but this particular pothole in St. Paul is actually revealing something pretty cool.

First, though, speaking of potholes, if there are potholes that you drive by (or over if you're unlucky) you can actually report those to MnDOT. On their website, there are different spots to fill out info about a pothole depending on a state highway or on a city or county road.

Now, this pothole in St. Paul I almost don't want them to fix it because of what it revealed. It exposed 100 years of history which makes me want them to leave it! Of course, that's a big issue for vehicles so... I guess I get that they need to repair it.

Underneath the asphalt on this road are a cobblestone road and streetcar rails that date back to between 133 and 71 years ago. How cool! MPR's News Editor took a picture of the St. Paul pothole, which can be found on Smith Ave. The photo was shared on MPR's Facebook page and they said that the streetcar on Smith Ave. was in operation from 1890 to 1952.

Isn't that awesome? I wish there was a way to have kept those cobblestone roads instead of just spreading asphalt over it.

I also learned that we have a pothole similar to this in downtown Rochester! I wasn't able to grab a picture of it because the snow caused it to fill with water but I'm told the pothole exposes the old cobblestone road. It's near the intersection of 4th St. SW and 2nd Ave. SW. It's in the middle of the road, though, so I feel an obligation to make sure I say DO NOT go into traffic to look at this. Just admire it from the sidewalk.