Prosper Lamal

Prosper Lamal was a 19th century Belgian businessman who emigrated to New Orleans, Louisiana. He is noted for the adoption of the blue sidewalk tiles on street corners in sections of the city built before 1950.

Biography Lamal was born in Brussels, Belgium, in 1835 or 1836. In Belgium, Lamal worked as an agent for various exporters of Belgian goods. His employment included being a representative for the firm Comptoir Industrial Belge. He went to New Orleans in 1884 when he was in charge of the Belgian exhibit at the World Cotton Centennial.

Sidewalk tiles Sidewalk tiles that spell street names are pervasive in older sections of New Orleans, including the French Quarter, Bywater, Tremé, Faubourg Marigny, the Garden District and certain areas of Uptown New Orleans. These are typically four inches by six inches, with a thickness of one inch, and one letter per tile. The tiles are almost all of encaustic construction in which colored clays, rather than a glaze, impart the color on the tile and result in considerable color stability. (One source refers to these as "embedded alphabet tiles".)

By 1893, the blue street name tiles were in wide usage in New Orleans and continued to be until approximately 1950. The installation of the tiles was not an official practice of the local city government even though their use was a common practice. The tiles are for this reason not commonly used on street corners in sections of the city built after 1950. The blue street name tiles continue to be maintained in the older sections of the city. During Lamal's time, he sold the tiles for 5¢ apiece. In contemporary times, the city government mandates that contractors responsible for street and sidewalk repair must reinstall the blue sidewalk tiles. If the tiles are too damaged for further use, the city government requires suitable replacements.

By the 1930s, the blue ceramic street tiles were manufactured domestically, especially by the American Encaustic Tile Company of Zanesville, Ohio. In contemporary times, as the blue ceramic tiles are damaged or otherwise need replacement, the tiles are manufactured by artisans local to the New Orleans metropolitan area. As of 2022, the cost of the replacement tiles was $40 per tile. Many of the newer tiles have yellow pinstripe borders.