Thu, Mar 18 2010
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Published April 18, 2009 11:51 pm - There is no person alive who knows the Eagleville Covered Bridge like Gary Hewitt. Mill Creek crossing reborn Pizza parlor owner heard opportunity knocking on old timbers when county sold Eagleville covered bridge By CARL E. FEATHER - Staff Writer - cfeather@starbeacon.com Star Beacon There is no person alive who knows the Eagleville Covered Bridge like Gary Hewitt.
The North Kingsville businessman took the 1862 bridge apart one timber, one wooden peg at a time in the summer of 1973. He then rebuilt the southern end of it inside the Covered Bridge Pizza Parlor, which opened on Route 193 in 1975. The northern half of the bridge is in Hewitt’s Andover pizza parlor. Formerly located on Forman Road and spanning the Mill Creek, this Town lattice bridge dates back to 1862, according to an Ashtabula County Historical Society publication, which stated that the bridge’s date was on the bridge. The reference did not state where on the bridge, however. Hewitt says he never found evidence of a date when dismantling the bridge. Further, according to a notice in the Ashtabula Sentinel, Dec. 11, 1867, county commissioners were to receive bids for building a lattice bridge over “Mills” Creek at Eagleville on Dec. 27 of that year. “Abutments to be let by the cord in wall, bridge by the foot,” stated the bridge notice. Regardless of when it was built, in 1870 this bridge was lengthened and moved 100 feet north of its original location after melting spring floes changed the course of the creek. The bridge was moved again during the legendary flood of 1913, this time by the swift waters that washed the bridge down stream. With only horses and block and tackle to move it, the bridge was pulled back to its stone abutments, where it would serve for nearly another 60 years. The bridge received extensive attention from the county in 1963, when steel I-beams were placed underneath for additional support. The county also replaced the roof during that decade. However, by 1972 the bridge was determined to be in unsafe condition and in need of replacement. County Engineer David L. Weir closed the bridge and suggested moving it to the Ashtabula County Fairgrounds. But the bridge ended up being offered to the highest bidder, and Hewitt bought it for $5. He had just opened his Covered Bridge Pizza Parlor in a North Kingsville house and was juggling that venture with a bar he owned in Kent. Hewitt, spending much of his time in the college community, noticed among his bar patrons a current of discontentment with the modern world. “We’d just gone through the 1970 riots at Kent, and the young people were trying to reach back; they thought the good-old days were better days,” Hewitt said. As he searched for a symbol of those simpler times, Hewitt hit upon the covered-bridge concept for his new pizza parlor. “I thought this kind of represents the good old days, and what a great theme to build around,” he said. His original plan was to get the business up and running, then custom-build a covered bridge to house the restaurant. When the opportunity came to purchase a vintage bridge, Hewitt changed course. “It really was a surprise,” he said. “The county made the decision they were going to get rid of it. (Commissioner) Dr. Lusk said, ‘Gary, what are you going to do, put it across the (Hadlock Road) ford?’” Hewitt slid in just under the wire. He jotted down “$5” on a piece of paper, slipped it into an envelope and presented it to the commissioners as the bid period was about to end. 
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