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Jeff Davis photo
Old timber found in Deep River . . .
Department of Transportation workers, while clearing up debris
near the Carbonton Dam, found old timbers thought to be from an
old mill or a bridge. In the top photo, the timbers lie beneath
the bridge as DOT workers examine three of the antique poles.
Above is a closer view of wooden pegs that were used as fasteners
in construction.
DOT working to solve mystery of
old timber
By Randall Rigsbee
Potentially historic hand-carved timbers apparently lodged for
decades in the muddy bank of the Deep River were discovered last
week as a Department of Transportation bridge maintenance crew
cleared debris from beneath the NC 42 bridge in Carbonton.
Workers found about a half dozen of the old, hand-made timbers
ensnared in mud.
Tommy Brown of the DOT was one of the men who discovered the
antiques and while Brown and the rest of the crew aren’t sure
what the timbers were used for, they are certain the pieces are
remnants of a by-gone era.
“They are old,” said Brown. “You can see the hand-hewn auger
marks on them.”
Brown and crew, whose job is to clear drift from bridges, made
their discovery on the morning of Tuesday, January 10 while
clearing a mass of debris tangled beneath the NC 42 Deep River
Bridge.
The crew is working at the site for the next couple of weeks as
part of their annual clean-up at the Deep River site.
Their work is coincidental to the nearby removal of the 17-foot
Carbonton dam, but because of the ongoing dam removal project,
debris trapped by the bridge for decades is now visible and is
being removed from the river by the DOT crew and chipped for
recycling.
It was while removing those heavy trees and limbs that the
workers discovered the antique timbers lodged beneath the NC 42
bridge.
Brown and co-worker Kevin Smith, who supervises the bridge
maintenance division, are uncertain of the origin of the old
wooden columns and can only speculate about what the heavy
timbers were once used for.
But they have a couple of theories.
They say – based on conversations they’ve had with several
Carbonton residents – it’s likely the timbers were part of an
old wooden bridge in Carbonton that was destroyed by a flood in
1909.
“We’re
really not sure what these were used for,” said Smith. “We
believe they were either part of an old bridge or a mill.”
more- See Thursday, Jan 19
paper:
Vol 86, No. 8 |
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Restaurant proposal prompts
concerns
By Randall Rigsbee
A proposed 200-seat restaurant off Big Woods Road near Jordan Lake
prompted several speakers at a Tuesday night public hearing before
the Chatham County Board of Commissioners and the county Planning
Board to ask that such commercial development on and near the US 64
corridor be carefully coordinated by the county and municipalities.
County resident Bob Eby, a member of the watchdog group Chatham
Citizens for Effective Communities, said the plan is proposed “along
an unspoiled stretch of US 64.
“Does the county really want to start yet another commercial/retail
complex at this now pristine location?” said Eby.
Among those calling for a coordinated plan for the corridor was
Pittsboro Mayor Randy Voller, who urged that commissioners and
officials from all three county municipalities confer on a plan.
“We only have one chance to do it right,” said Voller. “If we don’t
do it right, our children and our grandchildren will regret it.”
William Copeland is requesting the county grant a business district
conditional use permit for the 5.6-acre property at the intersection
of US 64 and Big Woods Road. The request would allow a variety of
business uses, not just restaurants.
Pittsboro attorney Nick Robinson, representing the property owner,
said the location is a “logical place to put some commercial uses.”
But the “blank check” nature of the request, as commissioner Patrick
Barnes described it, concerned commissioners.
more- See Thursday, Jan
19
paper:
Vol 86, No. 8
Central
principal resigns post
By Bob Wachs
John Eldridge, principal of
Chatham Central High School for almost five years, is leaving that
position to join the staff of the Guilford County school system.
Eldridge, last year’s “Chatham
County Principal of the Year” and a finalist for the state honor,
will become an Instructional Improvement Officer with the Guilford
system. His last day in Chatham County will be Feb. 17.
Replacing Eldridge on an interim
basis will be Chatham Central assistant principal Mitch Stensland,
who has been at the school since January, 2004.
In his new position, Eldridge will
oversee seven of Guilford County’s 14 high schools, working with the
principals and evaluating testing, drop-out rates and other data at
those schools, in essence serving as an area superintendent.
“As much as I’ve prayed about this
and thought about it and how much the people here mean to me, this
has been the second-hardest decision of my live,” Eldridge said,
“next to leaving Pennsylvania and my family.”
Eldridge holds a BA in Education
from the University of Pennsylvania at Bradford. After moving to
North Carolina, he earned a Masters degree from the University of
North Carolina at Greensboro in 1998. Eldridge says part of the
incentive to taking his new position is the opportunity he will have
to earn his Doctorate from UNC-Greensboro while he is on the job.
Eldridge taught one year at Siler
City Elementary before moving to Bonlee School in 1993, where he
taught five years and coached baseball and basketball. In 1998, he
became the assistant principal at Bonlee, a post he held for three
years before becoming assistant principal at Chatham Central in
2001. After principal Harold Rogers retired, Eldridge took over as
Central principal. “I’ve been with some of the seniors at Central
for 13 years,” Eldridge says.
Eldridge, whose wife Kelly has
taught art for 16 years at Chatham Middle School in Siler City, says
he and his family will remain in the area. “That was one of the
first things I asked when offered the job,” he said. “I asked if it
would be a requirement to move. If they had said ‘yes’ then I would
have declined. I don’t want to take our children out of this
system.” The couple has two daughters.
more- See Thursday, Jan 19
paper:
Vol 86, No. 8 |
