For Tonybee fans, that’s reason for hope. Sometime in the 1980s, Philadelphia pedestrians started to notice strange colored squares embedded in their streets. The Streets Department wants to save a few for posterity, before their slow resurfacing process destroys the few left remaining that have managed to survive years of city winters and SEPTA buses. A skinny tile on the north side of the intersection at 5th and Walnut in the heart of the historic district in Philadelphia.

And with all signs suggesting the mysterious Tiler has left the city for good, the tiles are becoming ever more rare and in danger of extinction in their native habitat, Philadelphia. Toynbee Tile - 5th and Walnut, Philadelphia. The tiles have inspired imitators and thieves alike, not to mention numerous news pieces and one award-winning documentary. Philadelphia Toynbee Tiles Throughout the city, tile hunters can spot the mysterious Toynbee tiles placed elusively in the middle of intersections in Center City. The Tiles are at once part of our local lore and art known the world over, the product of a South Philly man with a tenuous grip on reality and a tremendous amount of creativity.

The city’s paving agreements stipulate that paving contractors must halt resurfacing and notify a Streets engineer if they come across a Toynbee Tile, those strange mosaic messages embedded into the pavement across Philadelphia. The Toynbee Tiles - linoleum text squares embedded in pavement across the city - are a Philadelphia institution, and they're in danger of disappearing. The 2011 documentary Resurrect Dead told the world about the Toynbee Tiles, those mysterious tiles stuck to the streets of Philadelphia and a handful of cities around the world.

Philadelphia toynbee tiles