If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 644

 

 

 

 

 

The Marble Memorial Bridge, Proctor, Vermont

 

No photographer or identifying code is found on this unused Curteich 3-D Natural Color Reproduction postcard.  Featured on the card is the Marble Memorial or Fletcher D. Proctor Memorial Bridge in Proctor, Vermont. 

 

This bridge was one of the first in Vermont constructed of concrete instead of wood like the earlier covered bridges.  At the time it was thought that concrete would require less maintenance and last longer than a wooden bridge.  It is one of the few concrete bridges in Vermont from the early 1900s to survive.  The bridge has three concrete arch spans, each 42 feet or 13 meters long.  The total length is 170 ft or 52 m. 

 

I lost my marbles when I saw this card.  The blurb on the back says:  “The Marble Memorial Bridge spans the Otter Creek at Proctor, Vermont.  Home of the famous Marble Exhibit which is open daily during the summer from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Sundays and holidays included.  Admission free.”  The first thing that popped into my mind, perhaps because I played with marbles as a kid, was that this was that type of marble museum, round glass balls of all colors and mixed sizes.  But no, this well-preserved bridge built in 1915 and widened in 1935-36 with funds from the Works Progress Administration is decoratively faced with locally quarried gray marble (stone) not with small colored balls. 

 

It is dedicated to Fletcher D. Proctor, of the family-owned Vermont Marble Company and a former Governor of Vermont.  In 1991 the bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a major marble landmark in the community.  The community livelihood depended on the quarry and stone for many years.  Many of the sidewalks in the town of Proctor are made of marble.  Most of the buildings of the Vermont Marble Company still stand with many constructed of Vermont marble.

 

The Vermont Marble Museum or Vermont Marble Exhibit offers tours focusing on the Vermont Marble Company’s history, the geology of marble and other stones, the uses of marble in art, architecture and industry.  There is a short video about the history of the company, founded in 1880 by Redfield Proctor.  Photographs depicting workers in various activities, quarrying, carving, and shipping are displayed throughout the museum.  Geologic exhibits include a preserved triceratops skeleton, an artificial cave, and large slabs of decorative stone.  The quarry, located about a quarter mile away, is no longer in use but has recently been added to the marble exhibit.  Examples show large chunks of quarried, unfinished marble.  The Preservation Trust of Vermont acquired the Vermont Marble Company in 2014.

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_Bridge_(Proctor,_Vermont)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_Marble_Museum