Friday, January 25, 2008

The Antietam and its Bridges

Turnpike Bridge at Funkstown

I had the pleasure recently to check out, from the Washington County Free Library a copy of Helen Ashe Hays' 1910 book, The Antietam and its Bridges, which contains 17 excellent photogravures by John C. Artz of stone bridges along the Antietam Creek as it meanders its way to the Potomac.

This copy had been quite well loved, and the binding was so well worn that I realized I'd be able to scan it without damaging the book. Given the publication date, the work is in the public domain, so I offer you the aforementioned photogravures. Unfortunately, one of the plates was missing, but that does not significantly impact the work as a whole.

Only one of the bridges is actually on the National Road - the Turnpike Bridge, at Funkstown, shown above, before the 1930s widening, but several are within a mile of the Road, and would make an excellent diversion for the traveller following the route.

Funkstown Bridge
Funkstown Bridge Number 2 just a short distance downstream from the Funkstown Turnpike bridge.

Bridge at Rose's Mill
The bridge at Rose's Mill

Claggett's Mill
Claggett's Mill

Bridge at Claggett's Mill
The bridge at Claggett's Mill

2 comments:

Brian Downey said...

Thanks for capturing and posting these photos, Christopher. You prob know GoogleBooks has the volume online, but the picture quality bites, as is often the case with their scans.

Also, being a new reader, let me say I love what you're doing with the Road in this blog. Super work!

Best wishes going forward.

Anonymous said...

Hey are you a professional journalist? This article is very well written, as compared to most other blogs i saw today….
anyhow thanks for the good read!