These blocks were lighter and less expensive to produce and are the foundation of the modern concrete block. Palmer of Tennessee, and in 1899 he patented the hollow concrete block machine.
Although not as durable as the lost Roman formula, it was more portable and less expensive than quarried stone blocks.įrom the 1830s onward, different patents were issued for concrete block making machines – some of which produced blocks weighing 180 pounds! In 1889, a mold for solid concrete blocks was issued to Harmond S.
The redevelopment of concrete began in 1756, but the modern formula wasn’t patented until 1824. The art of making concrete, invented by the Romans around 300BCE, was lost when their empire fell.
