One site, one day, one person.
Some Concords have dozens of stories flowing from every street corner. Many underpopulated Concord townships have no notable presence online. Concord Township in Fayette County has seemingly one, and just one, attraction, The Mark Road Bridge. The bridge over Sugar Creek was built in 1883 and is listed on The National Register of Historic Places.
I was able to reach Bridget Sollars, a trustee of Concord Township, through the county website, and she agreed to meet. Unfortunately on the one day Tom and I could visit Fayette County, Bridget was attending a family funeral. However, she was able to put us in touch with a local historian and bridge enthusiast, Don Moore.
Don showed us the "Pin-connevcted, 7-panel, Pratt through truss bridge." The bridge spans 108 feet, and has a width of 13.5 feet. Reconstructed in 2007, it is rated as "structurally deficient" and it's single lane can bear a maximum of seven tons. As of 2002, an average of 181 cars pass through it daily. There was evidence that the bridge had originally been sited elsewhere in the county, and later moved to its current location.
Well, that was that.
We had seen an old bridge.
"So Don, what's the best part of living in Concord township?"
"Oh, I don't live in Concord."
I told Don that part of this project was to talk to Concordians about their home town. Fortunately, he knew folks in the area, and gave Martha a call.
Martha is a professor emeritus at Ohio State University. Her focus was on logistics management. In her retirement, she had lent her logistics experience to a South Sudan NGO, and tirelessly campaigned for Ohio Republicans. I wish we had more time to spend with Martha. Logistics management wasn't a conversation starter, but when I later googled her name, I found a 44-page resume that listed hundreds of articles and dozens of accolades. Because we had more Concords to visit, we had to regretably had to cut our visit short, Martha was clearly an expert on a subject that I knew nothing about. - such an opportunity lost.
I stopped a guy in his truck....
Not a lot of thrilling story, but a pretty common answer in rural USA - "I like the peace and quiet and people get along" and "Not much has changed since I moved here."
