Sheet Size: 10" x 15 3/4"; Image Size: 7" x 13 1/4"

The rustic beauty of the old covered bridge never ceases to charm us all. One of Frankfort’s four famous landmarks which included the courthouse clock tower, the custom house, and the Catholic church steeple, the wooden bridge apparently inspired Paul Sawyier’s talented brushes more often than any other subject in town.

It was built in 1847 when the Country was at war with Mexico and Captain Frank Chambers, Second Kentucky Infantry, let his men ferry across the river to South Frankfort, regroup and walk the newly laid stringers back to North Frankfort so they could claim they were the first to cross over.

By the time the Civil War struck the Country the town had grown to love its bridge, and when Union soldiers burned the railroad crossing a Belle Point, a frantic citizenry pleaded with the invading officers to spare the covered bridge. The officers relented, on one condition: the people must disassemble all parts of the structure, save the roof, side supports and stringers, and toss the lumber into the water. Later, during the Union occupation in town, the timbers were fished from the water and the bridge rebuilt.

A remarkably sturdy structure, it withstood the force of the 1847, 1848, and 1883 floods, but by 1892, residents, fearing its stone abutments had been dangerously weakened by almost half a century of strong river currents, sold the bridge and it was marked  for destruction. Those fainthearted souls may have been a bit premature, though, for the structure clung to life with remarkable tenacity, requiring far more dynamiting than was planned originally. And, if progress had not demanded its destruction, the bridge probably would be standing today.

The bridge keeper’s residence snugly adjoins the toll house to the left in the painting enhancing the beauty of the scene. These buildings are probably older than the bridge for Thomas Jefferson Mayhall recalled in his 1886 memoirs “….a ferry keeper earned $7.50 per month in the 1820’s … In 1824  George Todd was bridge keeper and paid $125 per quarter….”

In his quest for perfection, Sawyier often painted a picturesque scene more than once. His persistence paid off--- his masterful conception of color and composition was never more beautifully portrayed than it is here. His colors are limited and brooding, suggesting a snow storm yet to fall in this twilight hour of the sleepy town.

It was a time to seek comfort from hearth and home. It is the passing of yesterday.