Roads in the US have been paved with materials that include asphalt/bitumen since at least 1870, when a street in front of the Newark, NJ City Hall was paved. In many cases, these early pavings were made from naturally occurring "bituminous rock", such as at Ritchie Mines in Macfarlan in Ritchie County, West Virginia from 1852 to 1873. In 1876, asphalt-based paving was used to pave Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, in time for the celebration of the national centennial. Asphalt/bitumen was also used for flooring, paving and waterproofing of baths and swimming pools during the early 20th century, following similar trends in Europe. COUNT 5
QSN1 Since what date has asphalt been used for road paving in the US? ANS1 1870 QSN2 In front of what NJ building was the street paved with asphalt in 1870? ANS2 City Hall QSN3 What natural substance was used in early road pavings? ANS3 bituminous rock QSN4 From what Virginia  mines was asphalt obtained for early street pavings? ANS4 Ritchie Mines QSN5 For what purpose was asphalt used in swimming pools and baths? ANS5 waterproofing