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Pontoon Bridge over the Potomac. Maryland heights in the distance and Baltimore and Ohio R.R. – Antique Print

Pontoon Bridge over the Potomac. Maryland heights in the distance and Baltimore and Ohio R.R., [between 1860 and 1865] — historic drawing
Pontoon Bridge over the Potomac. Maryland heights in the distance and Baltimore and Ohio R.R., [between 1860 and 1865]. Historic drawing from the Baltimore collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Step back in time with Pontoon Bridge over the Potomac. Maryland heights in the distance and Baltimore and Ohio R.R., a historic drawing rich in period detail. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.

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Pontoon Bridge over the Potomac. Maryland heights in the distance and Baltimore and Ohio R.R.

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A pontoon bridge stretches across the Potomac here, with the wooded bulk of Maryland Heights rising in the distance and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad running along the riverbank. The crossing near Harpers Ferry was one of the most contested points of the Civil War, because the B&O carried supplies and troops between Baltimore and the Ohio valley, and armies relied on temporary floating bridges when permanent spans were destroyed or unsafe. Drawn in pencil and Chinese white on green paper, the sheet records wartime movement and improvised engineering as much as the landscape. Its date range spans the war itself, when such bridges were a constant necessity.

Created / published[between 1860 and 1865]
Medium1 drawing on green paper : pencil and Chinese white ; 17.4 x 21.4 cm. (sheet).
GenreLandscapes 1860-1870.Drawings American 1860-1870.
SubjectsBaltimore and Ohio Railroad Company--1860-1870. Pontoon bridges--1860-1870. Railroads--1860-1870. United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Transportation.United States--Virginia--Potomac RiverUnited States--Virginia--Maryland Heights
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,536 × 519 px · prints to 5 × 2 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-111505

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