Early Years of Concrete BlockĬoncrete block first entered the public market in the 1860s, when a number of proprietary systems for the manufacture of precast concrete blocks were developed on the East Coast (Ann Gillispie, 1979). Two cases in the Minneapolis area represent the two transformational moments in the use of concrete block – a development of single-family and row houses built in 1885, and the 1963 Hoffman-Callan Printing Company building. This article provides a short history of the development and use of architecturally designed and exposed concrete block. However, excitement about a material that could be molded into any shape and combined into any form was a common sentiment both in mid-century architectural journals, and in the 1860s to 1900s, when concrete block was a fledgling alternative.
The celebratory article argued that concrete block was “one of the most glamorous and flexible building materials at our command.” Today, concrete block is most often associated with utilitarian structures, cost-effective construction, and back-of-house uses where the material is left exposed. It wasn’t so long ago that a concrete block would not care to show its face in polite society.” This proclamation formed the lead of an extensive article, “Behold the Lowly Concrete Block,” in the March 1956 issue of the architectural journal, House and Home. A Brief History of Architectural Concrete Blocks
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