Description: Caption reads: "A view of Ohio River bridges at Cincinnati, Ohio. Photo by Federal Writers' Photographer, District #12. June 10, 1937." The bridge pictured in the foreground, called the Central Bridge or Cincinnati & Newport Bridge, was finished in 1890 and was the first "standard" cantilever truss bridge to be built. Located between Suspension Bridge and the L&N Bridge, the Central Bridge had a similar type and length of approach spans to that of the L&N bridge, with the piers built from identical stone. Demolished in 1992, the bridge was replaced by the Taylor-Southgate Bridge in 1995. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F18_003
Subjects: Bridges--Ohio--Cincinnati; Transportation--Ohio--History.; Architecture--Ohio--Pictorial works.; Bridges Ohio; Cityscape
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: One of the few remaining covered bridges in southwestern Ohio and the only one in Butler County on its original site, this bridge was built in 1868-1869 to give access to a saw and grist mill owned by James B. Pugh on Four Mile (Tallawanda) Creek. The wooden frame three-story mill had a 16-foot overshot water wheel to power it. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07521
Subjects: Covered bridges--Ohio; National Register of Historic Places; Bridges--Ohio; Bridges; Roads--United States--History
Places: Oxford (Ohio); Butler County (Ohio)
 

Description: The Fort Steuben Bridge is a wire cable suspension bridge that crosses the Ohio River between Steubenville, Ohio and Weirton, West Virginia. Built in 1928 by the Dravo Contracting Co., the bridge was the first suspension bridge on the Ohio River with a concrete floor. Closed in 2008 due to structural weaknesses, Fort Steuben Bridge is slated to be demolished. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F17_042_001
Subjects: Transportation--Ohio--History.; Bridges--Ohio; Transportation--Ohio; Roads--Ohio; Concrete bridges; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Steubenville (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: Image of the train involved in the Ashtabula Train Disaster, showing the train at the Ashtabula Railroad Depot and passengers waiting to board. The caption reads: "The Doomed Train, as it left Ashtabula, a few minutes before the Wreck." This illustration comes from a pamphlet titled "The terrible Ashtabula rail road calamity, on the evening of Dec. 29th, 1876, together with a few incidents of P.P. Bliss, the immortal singer," published by A.S. Benner, 1877. While this illustration is identified as the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway cars that plunged into the Ashtabula River, it does not appear to depict the actual train involved in the disaster or the Ashtabula LS&MS station at the time of the incident On December 29, 1876, a Howe truss bridge near Ashtabula, Ohio, collapsed while a train with three passenger cars was crossing it. The train and its passengers plunged sixty feet into a ravine and creek, and the lamps and stoves used to light and heat the train cars quickly ignited the wreckage. Ninety-two people died either in the accident or as a result of their injuries, and more than sixty of the surviving passengers were injured. Railroad accidents were commonplace during the late nineteenth century, due in part to tracks built quickly and cheaply by companies hoping to make tremendous profits. Railroad companies built thousands of miles of track in Ohio during the late nineteenth century, providing more opportunity for accidents to occur. Even after the Ashtabula Bridge collapse, the Howe truss bridge remained popular, primarily due to its relatively cheap cost. Still, railroad companies began to feel pressure from their customers to provide a safer means of travel. By 1888, more than two thousand iron bridges existed in Ohio. The state had fewer than nine hundred wooden bridges still in use at this time. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07759
Subjects: Transportation--Ohio--History; Trains; Railroad accidents; Railroads--Ohio; Bridges--Ohio;
Places: Ashtabula (Ohio); Ashtabula County (Ohio);
 

Description: Caption reads: "View of Bridges from Lower River Road." The railroad-only Southern Bridge, built by the Cincinnati Southern Railroad in 1877, connects western Cincinnati with Ludlow, Kentucky. Built as a a single track bridge on masonry pier with a swing span at the southern end, the bridge was rebuilt in 1922 with modifications to widen the upper half of the original piers with concrete and build a double truss around the original truss. Although the circular pivot pier of the original bridge's swing span was left intact, the reconstructed bridge no longer has a swing or draw span. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F17_016_001
Subjects: Transportation--Ohio--History.; Architecture--Ohio--Pictorial works.; Bridges Ohio; Cityscape; Bridges--Ohio--Cincinnati.
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Illustration of a train on the Ashtabula Bridge from "The Ashtabula Disaster" by Stephen D. Peet, 1877. On December 29, 1876, a Howe truss bridge near Ashtabula, Ohio, collapsed while a train with three passenger cars was crossing it. The train and its passengers plunged sixty feet into a ravine and creek, and the lamps and stoves used to light and heat the train cars quickly ignited the wreckage. Ninety-two people died either in the accident or as a result of their injuries, and more than sixty of the surviving passengers were injured. Railroad accidents were commonplace during the late nineteenth century, due in part to tracks built quickly and cheaply by companies hoping to make tremendous profits. Railroad companies built thousands of miles of track in Ohio during the late nineteenth century, providing more opportunity for accidents to occur. Even after the Ashtabula Bridge collapse, the Howe truss bridge remained popular, primarily due to its relatively cheap cost. Still, railroad companies began to feel pressure from their customers to provide a safer means of travel. By 1888, more than two thousand iron bridges existed in Ohio. The state had fewer than nine hundred wooden bridges still in use at this time. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: 977_1341_P347_c2_013
Subjects: Transportation--Ohio--History; Trains; Railroad accidents; Railroads--Ohio; Bridges--Ohio;
Places: Ashtabula (Ohio); Ashtabula County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of an unknown canal in Ohio, believed to be located in Dayton. A sign for Durst Milling Co. appears in the distance. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F06_036
Subjects: Canals--Ohio--Pictorial works; Bridges--Ohio; Bridges--Pictorial works; Canals--Ohio; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph showing the Chippewa Falls Bridge on Route 84 in Brecksville, Ohio, under construction ca. 1932. The bridge crossing Chippewa Creek was designed by D. Henry Overman for the Ohio Department of Highways. This photograph was collected in the D. Henry Overman Bridge Collection, which documents the career of Overman, a native of Waverly, Ohio, and a resident of Columbus. He graduated from The Ohio State University in 1923 with a degree in civil engineering. Overman joined the Ohio Department of Highways (now the Ohio Department of Transportation) on June 10, 1918, where he was employed until his retirement in 1964, serving as assistant chief for the Bureau of Bridges for nine years, and as the chief of the Bureau for his last eight years on the job. During his approximately 45 year career, Overman designed a number of bridges in Ohio, including the stone-faced bridge over the Scioto River at Routes 161 and 33 in Dublin, and the Lorain Avenue Viaduct, a steel bridge in Cleveland. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV184_B01F03_01
Subjects: Bridges; Engineering; Ohio Department of Highways; Transportation--Ohio--History
Places: Brecksville (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Canal plat map showing a section of the route of the Ohio and Erie Canal through Licking County between stations 132 and 272. The Ohio Turnpike, bridges, railroads, stations, locks, and other landmarks along the route are also noted. The map was created under the direction of the members of the Canal Commission of the state of Ohio and approved by the Chief Engineer of the Department of Public Works (variously referred to as the Board of Public Works and the Division of Public Works). The Ohio and Erie Canal was constructed between 1825 and 1832, eventually connecting Cleveland and Lake Erie with Portsmouth and the Ohio River. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: BV4914_004
Subjects: Ohio and Erie Canal (Ohio); Transportation; Canals -- Ohio; Bridges--Ohio
Places: Licking County (Ohio)
 

Description: Canal plat map showing a section of the route of the Ohio and Erie Canal through Fairfield County, between stations 968 and 1124. Fur Creek is pictured along with various properties deeded or sold to the state of Ohio, and bridges, railroads, stations, locks, and other landmarks along the route are also noted. The map was created under the direction of the members of the Canal Commission of the state of Ohio and approved by the Chief Engineer of the Department of Public Works (variously referred to as the Board of Public Works and the Division of Public Works). The Ohio and Erie Canal was constructed between 1825 and 1832, eventually connecting Cleveland and Lake Erie with Portsmouth and the Ohio River. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: BV4914_012
Subjects: Ohio and Erie Canal (Ohio); Transportation; Canals -- Ohio; Bridges--Ohio
Places: Fairfield County (Ohio)
 

Description: Elevated panoramic photograph showing the town of Bellaire, Ohio, during the early 20th century. Bellaire, incorporated in 1857, is located at the confluence of McMahon Creek and the Ohio River in Belmont County, Ohio. Bridges spanning the river connect people and railroads to West Virginia. Jacob Davis acquired the land on which the town was eventually laid out in 1802, naming it Bel Air after his home in Maryland. His son, Jacob Davis, Jr., laid out the town in 1834. Multiple variations of the town name were used in the early 19th century: when the first post office was established in 1841 the town was listed as Bell Air, and after 1870, the town was called Bellaire. Several railroads built lines through Bellaire in the 1850s that stimulated the growth of local industries such as coal mining, clay, limestone and glass manufacturing. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV88_B01F03_03
Subjects: Bellaire (Ohio); Ohio River; Cities and towns--Ohio; Bridges--Ohio; Landscape photography; Aerial views;
Places: Bellaire (Ohio); Belmont County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows a wooden bridge over the Miami and Erie Canal in Montgomery, Ohio, most likely located in or near Dayton, Ohio. Many small bridges had been constructed by this time which precluded any large boats from navigating the canal. The Miami and Erie Canal connected the Ohio River in Cincinnati, Ohio and Lake Erie in Toledo, Ohio and was completed in 1845. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F05_018
Subjects: Bridges--Ohio; Miami and Erie Canal (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio); Public works
Places: Montgomery County (Ohio)