Theodore Burr (aka Bill Brower)

Bill Brower and Trish Kane)

      Here he is folks! Finally, a photo of Theodore Burr! Well…almost. In honor of the Oxford bicentennial celebration, our friend Bill Brower decided to portray one of Oxford's famous citizens, Theodore Burr. And he did an excellent job!
      Bill took his role very seriously and researched Theodore Burr extensively. He was available to the public for questions and took part in the Spanning New York Power Point presentation with us which took place at the Oxford Memorial Library. It was a lot of fun and we were thrilled to be a part of this exciting event.

Theodore Burr's bridges are all long gone, but his legacy lives on, in over two hundred Burr truss covered bridges distributed widely across America. One of the structures he built still stands, and that is his own home at Oxford, New York. This elegant house, with its full-width two-story front porch supported on graceful Ionic columns, is now the town library. Fund raising is now under way for various improvement and repairs.

The library proposes to dedicate a special room as the Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Resource Center. In addition to hosting information about Theodore Burr himself, the center will include a covered bridge library, a collection of historical photographs and postcards, and covered bridge models.

The Burr-House shows promise of becoming the centrally-located covered bridge resource for which we have long been hoping. Trish Kane will be accepting donations of books, photographs, postcards, slides and other material. Surely the winnowing job will be great, but there is a vast amount of important historical material in various private collections and having a central repository will help over time to gather these materials in one accessible place.

Meanwhile, the NSPCB Archives will continue at Westminster, Vermont, and it seems wise to have more than one location for the historical materials, as insurance against natural disaster. As photographs are electronically scanned they can be made available from one center to another, and we foresee the day when covered bridge research will become much easier.

Those interested in donating materials may contact Trish Kane, bobtrish68@frontiernet.net or by phone at 607-674-9656. Monetary donations may be made directly to the library, but be sure to specify that you want the funds to be used specifically for the Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Resource Center, if that is your wish. Donations can be sent to: Oxford Memorial Library, PO Box 552, Oxford, NY 13830.

Ohio

Smolen-Gulf Covered Bridge — OH-04-64 - No doubt by now you have heard about the dedication of the new Smolen-Gulf Covered Bridge on Tuesday, August 26th. This bridge stretches 613 feet over the Ashtabula River valley, qualifying it as the longest covered bridge in America and the highest. Although this bridge is not yet open to traffic it should definitely be on your list of bridges to see when visiting Ohio. Although I was in Upper Sandusky, Ohio in April, I was not able to get to Ashtabula County to see the progress being made on this bridge, but will definitely do so the next time I'm out that way. Be sure to take the time to read all the many articles that have been published on this magnificent bridge.

Pennsylvania

West Paden Covered Bridge — PA-19-12 - Restoration work has begun on this bridge, as well as the Shoemaker Bridge PA-19-06 in Columbia County. The Shoemaker Bridge is under going complete restoration. The work is being done by Susquehanna Supply Company who has restored many of Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges.

Pine Grove — PA-15-22/36-41 - Work is almost complete on the Pine Grove Covered Bridge and by all reports, it looks fantastic.

We also believe we will have someone offering covered bridge patches as well. If you have duplicate covered bridge postcards or patches you would like to offer to other covered bridge collectors, please contact us soon so we can reserve a table for you. Please note there will be a $15 set up fee. For more information, or to reserve a table, contact Bob & Trish Kane at: bobtrish68@frontiernet.net or 167 Williams Rd., Sherburne, NY 13460 or 607-674-9656 after 5 pm.

Attention Covered Bridge Patch Collectors - What began as a simple inventory of Bob's Covered Bridge Patch collection quickly grew into an extensive list, by state, of approximately 450 covered bridge patches known to exist to date. Whew, what a task! This list includes small, colored photos as well as specific information such as: city/town identification, measurements and colors of each individual patch. For collectors who would like to inventory their personal collections, there is also a section to indicate whether or not you have the patch in your collection and the amount you paid for it.

Before this material goes to press, and to ensure that it is as accurate as possible, we would love to hear from other covered bridge patch collectors. If you are a collector of covered bridge patches, and would like to offer your assistance, please contact us as soon as possible. Hopefully, this material will be available to the public in the spring. Special thanks to Clyde Bradle from Pittsburgh, PA and Jim Ward from Milan, OH for sharing their knowledge and expertise with us. We couldn't have done it without them. For more information, contact us at: bobtrish68@frontiernet.net or write: 167 Williams Rd., Sherburne, NY 13460. You may also reach us evenings after 5 pm at 607-674-9656.

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