Hip to be square
Editor:
After an earthquake and tsunami in 1755, Lisbon Portugal became the first city in the world to rebuild their city on a rectangular grid (rectangular subdivision of America began at the Ohio/Pennsylvania line at the Ohio River.)
New Lisbon, Ohio, founded in 1803, was quick to use this totally new concept in city planning.
It began with four open public squares with streets going north and south (Market Street) and east and west (Lincoln Way) with rectangular blocks. Sprawl had proceeded planning in city growth and development, and with America being a new land pallet, Lisbon's founders used that strategy to lay out their new town, aptly named New Lisbon.
The first town in Ohio to use this rectangular system, it set a precedent all across America.
Again, we are so proud to be from a town that was a first of firsts in American city development.
Kim Halverstadt
Lisbon
