Mission Statement
The Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Resource Center is a non-profit organization focused on collecting, curating, and presenting information about covered bridges for those interested in the historic bridges of our past. Whether for researchers, covered bridge enthusiasts, or newcomers seeking to learn about the world of covered bridges, our resource center is dedicated to delivering a vast collection of resources for this purposes. Since 2011, we have relied on donations from other individuals who share our passion for historical bridges. With time and help, we aspire to be the center of covered bridge research, information, and education in the United States.
Our Story
In 2004, Bob and Trish Kane received a large collection of covered bridge postcards from Richard Donovan, a highly respected bridge enthusiast and dear friend.. After promising to give the public access to all of these valuable postcards, Bob and Trish combined Donovan’s covered bridge collection with their own and searched for a suitable place to display their materials. Fortunately, the opportunity to do so came when, in a meeting with Oxford Town Historian Charlotte Stafford and the Oxford Memorial Library Board of Trustees, the idea of the Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Resource Center was born.
The Resource Center is a non-profit, research-focused archive that houses an extensive collection of covered bridge research materials and memorabilia. The Center’s mission is to make its extensive covered bridge material accessible to all interested in learning about the historic bridges of the past and present.
The Center is based on the second floor of the Oxford Memorial Library, a Federal style house built in 1811 by engineer and bridge-builder Theodore Burr. The building is located at 8 Fort Hill Park, Oxford, New York. You can read more about the Resource Center’s mission and namesake at the accompanying links. (Add links to these pages under the words mission and namesake).
On July 2nd, 2011, the Oxford Memorial Library held a ceremony in historic Fort Hill Park to celebrate the bicentennial of the library’s construction and restoration. During this celebration, the Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Resource Center, built with enormous help from the library, was officially dedicated to the late Donovan and Stafford, whose efforts were integral to the Resource Center’s formation. Two days later, on July 4th, 2011, the Center officially opened. The Center has since hosted visitors from around the country and has been the site of summits for covered bridge society leaders across the United States.
Additional donated collections began to arrive in December 2010. Since that time, the Center has grown thanks to the help of generous individuals who have gifted their historical materials to the library. To date the Center has received 11 private collections donated to its ever-growing library, which are stored and curated by its staff. The Resource Center library now includes:
Over 20,000 postcards featuring covered bridges, with some dating back to the early 1950’s.
A complete set of newsletters from every covered bridge society that has ever existed, including those of societies now defunct.
Over 20,000 photographs of covered bridges dating all the way back to 1938.
A collection of over 300 books written on covered bridges. Donated by covered bridge enthusiasts nationwide, some of these books are quite rare and not often available elsewhere outside of the Center. All duplicate books housed in the library are available for purchase by writing to info@tburr.org for current availability.
More than 30 covered bridge models, most of them donated by the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. These models are available for viewing at the Resource Center and in the “Collections” section of the website.
Through the generosity of Terry and Sarah Miller, the Resource Center received a computer and high-quality scanner for its base of operations at Fort Hill Park. Using this technology, the Center was able to embark on a project of digitization—uploading physical materials onto the web in order to reach a wider audience. The result of this project is the site you are visiting now. The Resource Center continues to update this website as more of its physical resources are digitized and uploaded to our collections page.
The Center is grateful for both monetary donations and covered bridge collections. For more information on contributing to the Center’s mission, please visit the “Donations” (link here as well) page found on the top-right hand side of your screen. Thank you for visiting the Covered Bridge Resource Center’s website. Please enjoy its research materials and other resources.
Our Staff
Trish Kane
Trish Kane is the collections curator and co-founder of the Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Resource Center. She, along with her husband Bob, grew interested in the world of covered bridges during a 1993 vacation to Vermont, where they began researching and photographing them. Together they have visited over 500 covered bridges across the country and have contributed vast amounts of effort and awareness to the world of covered bridges.
Trish and Bob have succeeded in getting the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to list 9 of New York’s 34 covered bridges listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places. Trish co-founded the website Covered Spans of Yesteryear (www.lostbridge.org), which aims to document all known covered bridges to have ever existed in the U.S. and Canada. In 2002, she spearheaded the DeLorme Atlas Project, which sought to include the locations of and directions to covered bridges on all maps made by the DeLorme Atlas Company.
In 2010, Trish and Bob founded the Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Resource Center, after receiving a collection of covered bridge resources from friend and covered bridge expert Richard Donavan. In October of 2014, Trish and Bob’s book, New York State’s Covered Bridges, was published by Arcadia Press.
Trish is now the collections curator at the Resource Center in Oxford, New York, where she manages the archives and coordinates donations. In addition to her numerous projects and publications, Trish is an avid photographer, whose images have been featured in Pennsylvania Magazine, and the I Love New York State: Autumn Tourism guide and several calendars. Trish graduated with honors from SUNY Morrisville and spent 32 years on the professional staff of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.
Noel Rubinton
Noel Rubinton, the Senior Advisor for the Theodore Burr Resource Center, has been interested in covered bridges since high school. The historic bridges combined his love for history, photography, and the outdoors. He graduated from Brown University and has been a writer and editor throughout his career. Noel has worked for newspapers, non-profit organizations, and various other publications. He has been a member of and has written pieces for several covered bridge societies across the country. He lives just outside Washington, D.C. and has close ties with central New York, including Colgate University.
Mac McClaren
Mike Musante
Our Supporters
The accomplishments of the Theodore Burr Resource Center are due in large part to the aid of many other generous organizations and individuals. We are extremely grateful to our many supporters, who include:
- The Oxford Memorial Library, for being our key partner since our inception, giving us space in its historic building and much more.
- The R.C. Smith Foundation of Norwich, N.Y., for its grant funding that has made our website possible.
For their advice and resources, many people in the New York State Covered Bridge Society, the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges, the Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Society of Pennysylvania, the Indiana Covered Bridge Society, the Ohio Historic Bridge Association, and the Vermont Covered Bridge Society.
Richard Donovan, advisor and extraordinary covered bridge collector, and Charlotte Stafford, former Oxford town historian, to whom the Resource Center is dedicated.
Terry and Sarah Miller for their many gifts to the Resource Center.
If you would like to make a donation to the Resource Center, it would be most welcome and make a big difference to our future. Donate here.