Learn Something New Every Day

So, here's something that I encountered a little while ago, a bit of knowledge that made me go... wow, I didn't know that! I was reading about logging here in the Pacific Northwest and learned the first meaning of the term 'Skid Row'. It's, now, generally a name for a poor area in a town or city, where those people 'on the skids', who are basically poor, druggies, prostitutes, etc, live. Basically it's a slum; a red-light district.

But the term didn't start like that. It seems to have started in the 17 Century as 'Skid Road'. It referred to a log road - a road made by paving it with greased wood slats, also known as a Corduroy road - then. The term gained wide usage in the Pacific Northwest in the 19th Century and meant the road, path or track upon which logs were skidded down the mountains to the mills and storage areas below. In time the mills and storage areas were also spoken of as being on Skid Road and when loggers were fired, they were sent down Skid Road.

An original Skid Road with the loggers using oxen to pull huge trees. Image from the above link on greased slates called Why Do they Call It Skid Row?.