The Burlington business district was built in a natural amphitheater surrounded by hills. With all commerce situated in this valley, transportation was extremely difficult for the residents living on the steep hills surrounding the downtown. Burlington citizens realized that a new and improved form of road system was needed for travel between the residential area and the business district. In 1894
, Snake Alley was constructed with an experimental street design. It was devised by three Germans who replicated the vineyard paths in France and Germany. Charles Starker, William Steyh, and George Kriechbaum created a street that made transportation in Burlington much easier for its citizens. There is a legend that the fire department used this alley to test horses. If a horse could take the curves at a gallop and still be breathing when it reached the top, the horse was deemed fit to haul the city’s fire wagons. In 1974, Snake Alley was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places. The homes surrounding the street were standing before construction began, thus giving the street the appearance of an alley. Today, the brick paving is still the original used in construction more than one hundred years ago. Visitors are allowed to travel this unique street with five half-curves and two quarter-curves over a distance of 275 feet, descending 58.3 feet from Columbia Street to Washington Street. With its many twists and turns, Robert Ripley of Ripley’s Believe It or Not named Snake Alley the “Crookedest Street in the World.” Snake Alley rivals Lombard Street in San Francisco for the honor.
