The photo, taken near Marietta's Ohio River levee sometime between 1900 and 1903, seems almost surreal: The Williamstown bridge is under construction and seems to defy gravity as the incomplete northern end of the span hangs in midair, high above a passing steamboat.
It's one of 45 photographs in a first-ever exhibition at the Marietta College Hermann Fine Arts Center covering the early days of steamboats and river navigation in the mid-Ohio Valley.
"We put this exhibit together from our library collection of probably more than 1,000 photos of riverboats, and it was designed to coincide with the Sternwheel Festival (Sept. 5, 6, and 7)," said Doug Anderson, director of the Marietta College Library.
"But the exhibit will continue through Sept. 26," he said.
Anderson said the exhibition includes images from the local Harry Philip Fischer and S. Durward Hoag collections. Both were avid photographers of early to mid-20th century Marietta, and both collected photos from the area's earlier history as well.
"This is the first time we've done an exhibit of this type, and we hope to do others," Anderson said. "We also want to offer the exhibit to museums up and down the river as many of these boats plied the waters from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati."
The library collaborated on the project with a couple of local river historians, Joseph "Woody" Rutter and Jeff Spear.
Both men are members of the national riverboat historical society, Sons and Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen.
"Woody and I went through the Hoag and Fischer collections together," Spear said. "It was like catnip for two cats who really love river history.
"We tried to pick out photos that people may not have seen before," he said.
Spear noted that Fischer, a well-known local photographer in his time, took thousands of photos.
"Mr. Fischer really recorded the history of Marietta. He was consumed with capturing the history of the moment," he said. "We're very lucky to have had him and to have these collections."
Spear added that the exhibit should be especially exciting for the Sons and Daughters whose annual meeting is scheduled for Sept. 12 and 13 at the Lafayette Hotel.
Anderson noted that the Marietta College Library is a documents archive for the city, and he invited anyone who would like to share a private collection of historic documents or photos to contact himself or Linda Showalter at 376-4758 or 376-4545.
