Beaver's Mill and old covered bridge photograph

Dated ca. 1930-1943, this photograph shows Beaver's Mill and a covered bridge near Hillsboro, Ohio, in Highland County. The photograph's caption reads "Beaver's Mill & Old Covered Bridge. Highland Co. a few miles from Hillsboro O. Rocky Fork Creek." In the 1800s and early 1900s, Highland County was home to at least six different water-powered mills along the Rocky Fork and were important centers in rural life for grinding flour, cutting lumber, carding wool, and weaving blankets. The 122 foot long truss Beaver Mill covered bridge was built in 1872 and torn down in 1955 for a new road project. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939