Village Squire, 1978-04, Page 45The scene can be right out of the past when a horse and buggy crosses West Montrose
coy eyed bridge near Elmira.
West Montrose has Ontario's
last covered bridge
Story and photos by Kathryn Lamb.
What is the most photographed and
sketched bridge in the province of Ontario?
The last remaining covered bridge,
•spanning the Grand River at West
Montrose, about 12 miles northeast of
Kitchener -Waterloo.
An old-time bridge engineer was asked
why timber bridges had been built with
covers. "Why," he replied, "for the same
reason women wore petticoats --to protect
their underpinnings."
Since bridges actually were covered to
protect the wood from rain and snow and
resulting decay, this simple explanation is
a good one. In most cases, extra years of
service more than paid for, the cost of
covering the bridge.
At one time Ontario had seven covered
bridges, but most of them have gone the
way of the horse and buggy. The lone
survivor, fittingly enough, is located in an
area where the horse and buggy is an
everyday sight as Old Order Mennonites
go to meeting, market or visiting.
It stands in semi -retirement half -a -mile
downstream from a modern concrete
bridge built in 1959. It was marked as an
historic site by the Ontario Archeological
and Historic Sites Board in 1960.
Maintenance today is shared by the
Township of Woolwich and the Waterloo
Regional Heritage Foundation.
In bygone days covered bridges became
social and recreational centres. Farmers
and travellers waited out rains under its
roof, and on hot summer days, it made a
cool shady spot for the country boys to
swim. The hard, dry surface provided an
excellent place for the local militia to
conduct their drills. Bridge walls were
plastered with posters, placed there by
passing "drummers," extolling the virtues
of horse linament or heart pills.
Young lovers nicknamed each bridge,
The Kissing Bridge, and when crossing in
horse and buggy extolled a kiss for every
plank.
The bridge at West Montrose was
constructed with painstaking detail.
according to the original plans and
specifications in the hands of the ministry
of transportation and communication.
It was built by Sam and John Baer in
1881 at a cost of $3,179.50. The original
floors were made of three-inch oak planks
and they were joined to the wooden
structure with seven-inch wrought iron
spikes. On construction of the pier, the
specifications indicated 15 piles had to be
given to a depth of• 12 feet "as far as a
hammer of one ton weight will drive them
at the rate of one-quarter inch' to a blow."
The bridge had 20 shutter -type windows
like permanent venetian blinds, admitting
air and some light but keeping out the rain.
Inch -thick boards were specified for their
construction.
"Hardwood is to be used throughout,
with the exception of rafters which can be
pine.
"Class of timber to be used in the
construction of said bridge to be good,
sound timber, free from splits or loose
knots or anything that has a tendency to
impair its strength.
"All work shall be done in a good and
workmanlike manner and everything to be
carried out to full intent of plans and
specifications."
The bridge is 198 feet long. 17 feet wide
inside and headroom clearance is 13 feet.
Original plans called for cedar cribs filled
with rough stone, but the substructure now
consists of concrete wing abuttments at
either end on a stone centre pier.
In the early 1940s the bridge was slated
for demolition, but public protest reprieved
it. When examined closely, the bridge was
found to be in surprisingly good condition.
(Remember the petticoats?)
A school bus crossed the bridge in the
early 50s, carrying students to the Elmira
District High School. Because the bridge
had a two -ton limit, the bus stopped at the
bridge and the students disembarked. One
boy crossed the bridge and stopped all
traffic with a red flag, while the remainder
of his classmates walked across, followed
by the bus.
Extensive repair work, in effect a
restoration, was carried out by the
department of highways in the summer of
1954. The flooring was torn up and
replaced. A laminated deck of two-by-fours
was put in and covered with asphalt -bond-
ed stone to make a smooth hard surface.
When the bridge was officially re -open-
ed in October, 1954, the honors were done
by executive members of the Women's
Institute, rather than officials of the
Ontario department of highways. This was
a gesture of appreciation shown by the
highways department to recognize the
institutes' concern for the preservation of
historic sites and the co-operative spirit
which had existed between the two bodies.
Mrs. Gordon McPhatter of Owen Sound,
president of the Federated Women's
Institutes of Ontario, cut the ribbon and
Mrs. J.W. Adams of Ethelton, Sask., the
dominion president, was also present.
New lights, set in old-fashioned lanterns
and spaced 40 -feet apart on either side
were placed in the bridge at this time. They
were a memorial to the fact that many
years before citizens of West Montrose
hung up barn lanterns to provide light for
late travellers. This was done voluntarily
and as a genture of good neighborliness.
Later a bylaw required that lanterns be
lighted each day at dusk by a verger. For
many years this job was taken care of by
the Gus Hartwick family who lived in a
stone house at the south end of the bridge.
VILLAGE SQUIRE/APRIL 1978. PG. 43.