William Henry Stevens Covered Bridge

A textured shot of the interior of the William Henry Steven's Covered Bridge in Highland's, North Carolina.... more

by Janice Pariza

Title

William Henry Stevens Covered Bridge

Artist

Janice Pariza

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

A textured shot of the interior of the William Henry Steven's Covered Bridge in Highland's, North Carolina.
Will Henry Stevens was an American modernist painter and naturalist. Stevens is known for his paintings and tonal pastels depicting the rural Southern landscape, abstractions of nature, and non-objective works. His paintings are in the collections of over forty museums in the US, including the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
At the start of the 20th century, before the widespread use of steel in bridge construction, there were over 10,000 wooden covered bridges in America. Stevens Bridge Plaque - Bascom Art Center, Highlands, North Carolina A century later, all but about 800 have disappeared. One of those casualties was the Bagley Bridge in New Hampshire where it crossed the Warner River. Deemed unfit for vehicular and pedestrian traffic, city officials in Warner decided to have it removed. One of the few master covered bridgewrights in the country, Arnold M. Graton purchased the old structure in 1966 and placed it in storage. Thought to be New Hampshire's oldest covered bridge, the Bagley Bridge was removed without much public remorse.
Forty years later, the one of a kind, old-growth white pine bridge was taken out of storage, placed on a transport and delivered to the Bascom Center in North Carolina. Stevens Bridge Details - Bascom Art Center, Highlands, North Carolina Here in Highland, Graton, with the help of DCF Engineering, reassembled the distinctive Ithiel Town lattice style bridge, creating a one-of-a-kind entrance to the art center. Nearly 60 percent of the bridge material had to be replaced, but Graton used no metal fasteners or supports of any kind. Over 1100 tree-nails, dowels and trunnels rejoined the bridge members. Replacement timbers were cut 20 years ago from Graton's family property, naturally dried and now ready for service. Completed in 2009, the 200 year old bridge is a tribute to conservation, foresight and love of these historic structures.

Uploaded

February 11th, 2014