The Burning of the Center Bridge.

[NNadir]

Edward Redfield, (1923) American, 1869-1965.

At the Michener Museum, Doylestown, PA.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear NNadir!

Somehow, I'm thinking this is a Civil War painting...

It just looks like one.

It certainly is dramatic, and quite beautiful.

Thank you for posting this.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. interesting possibility --

[struggle4progress]

6. It seems Redfield lived in Center Bridge PA, and the bridge there burned in 1923

http://www.livingplaces.com/PA/Bucks_County/Solebury_Township/Center_Bridge.html

... Today's village of Center Bridge was originally Reading's Ferry, named for the ferry established by Colonel John Reading, about 1711 ... After Reading's death, it was operated by his son-in-law, Captain Daniel Howell, and was known as Howell's Ferry until 1770. Later it was operated by Joseph Mitchell, who also ran a tavern on the Pennsylvania side which he had built on acreage he had purchased in 1765 ... After Mitchell's death, Paxson and Mitchell's son Joseph collaborated on the construction and operation of a toll bridge across the Delaware. Located midway between the ferries at New Hope and Lumberville, the "center-bridge" became the focus of the small community around it. The bridge was swept away in the flood of 1841 ... The rebuilt bridge survived the infamous 1903 flood; but in 1923 was struck by lightning and burned. The event was made famous in a painting by Edward W. Redfield ...

Center Bridge

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. Thank you, my dear struggle4progress!

That is a fascinating bit of history...

[Tuesday Afternoon]

3. thanks for posting, NNadir

[pscot]

4. “Sound the alarm!

Center Bridge is burning! As I stand on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River, I can see people clustered around watching as the bridge that connects Pennsylvania with New Jersey (link to map) is consumed in a raging fire. It is the summer of 1923 and the wooden supports of this old bridge are burning bright red against the midnight sky. Why isn’t anyone doing anything to prevent total destruction? I look around and I can make out the huddled silhouettes of my friends and neighbors. I sketch this historic and horrible event but I don’t have anything but this old envelope. That will have to do!” –Edward Redfield

[Tuesday Afternoon]

5. thanks, pscot ...

amazing. sketched on an old envelope to the finished piece. wow.