From the Richmond Dispatch, January 18, 1896:

The youths on Oregon Hill have recently started quite a money making scheme at the expense of the city. It seems that a certain junk-dealer has offered to buy bricks at four for one cent. Little by little the sidewalks on Oregon Hill have dwindled away, until now many of them present quite a dilapidated appearance. It is said that more than twenty boys are members of the enterprising exchange.