-34-
the sawmill at
Punkups, and
as he and Webb owned land across the
river, they conceived the idea of moving Zoar bridge down
where it
would be convenient for them to bring their logs over.
"The Zoar bridge was then a big
covered
bridge. This they took down and moved it down, but without
thinking it
necessary to buy the stock of the bridge company."
"The result was that when they applied
for a
charter and toll rates, the old company opposed them on the
grounds
that whey were within a mile of the place where the old
company was
exclusively authorized by the legislature to collect toll.
"The Downs bridge was then nearly a
mile and
an eighth from the original location, but the charter of the
old
company did not restrict them to the exact location and they
could if
they chose build further south and this would preclude the
proprietors
of the Downs bridge from getting a permit to collect toll."
A
charter for
the Downs bridge was therefore refused, and as the old company
immediately built a new bridge for the accommodation of Zoar
people,
the Downs bridge was thrown open to the public. It was a
losing game
and the Downs brothers never recovered from the financial
loss.
"The bridge was carried away by a
flood,
November 13, 1853, and only small remains of the old
abutments mark the
place where it stood, a few hundred feet above Otter Rock."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Zoar
Bridge was
said to have been built before 1800. It was built with logs
bolted
together for the sides, and was carried away by an ice freshet
in l835.
This bridge was known also as the Ezekiel Curtiss Bridge.
It was replaced in 1837 by Elisha Hubbell,
who kept
a store on the east end of the bridge and collected the toll.
The
bridge passed through the care of William Bradley and George
Sharpe,
and was one third washed away in November, 1853.
The rebuilding was done by Philo Smith, but
a year
later another freshet partially undermined the west pier so
that it
settled down eighteen inches.
"These were the two highest freshets ever known, said folks
who were
eighty years old at the time. Walter Bradley, now living at
Stevenson,
was there and crossed the bridge when the water was at the
highest
mark, leading his horse across, and the water was running in
the road
between the barn and the east end of the bridge."
In 1857
another
ice freshet carried off one pier and two-thirds of the
bridge, which
was again rebuilt. In 1875 it was again carried off, and the
company
decided not to rebuild it. At this time efforts were made to
have the
towns of Oxford and Monroe rebuild the bridge.
After some controversy, this was done
in 1876,
at a cost of $13,225.87, the towns each paying half the
expense.
