New project the fulfillment of Smithson’s dream
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It was the flooding at Hickory Creek that scared her, and Harvey said her grandmother, who lived down the road, would rather stay with the family on their farm for days to escape the potential wrath of Mother Nature.
She also remembers the 120-acre farm as a young girl, where her father preferred the “old timey” way concerning the area he came to from Clay County in 1942.
But as the sole survivor of the immediate family, Harvey said the time has come for a project on the creek at Wheeler Road to literally bridge the generational divide.
A portion of the Harvey’s farmland will be used as a right of way for a new bridge project. County Road Superintendent Harold Glenn says it will be the longest county bridge in Warren County.
At 275-feet-long and at a price tag of about $500,000, the new bridge will run diagonally across the creek, compared to the old one that runs perpendicular to it.
It won’t take away the flooding, but the new bridge will be built out of the flood plain and will allow the road to be passable for the hundreds of vehicles that pass by there every day, he said. The majority of the price is being covered by state-aid funds.
The old rainbow-style bridge, built in 1927, served its purpose in her father’s time, Harvey said, but as the factories let out across the highway and as the nursery trucks roll across its bumpy one lane today, the bridge is not holding up as well as it once did.
She said a bridge to better serve the community was the dream of former 9th District county commissioner Jack Smithson, who passed away about three years ago.
Harvey said Smithson approached her, along with Vervilla community member Mike Bouldin in 1998, about the potential for a new bridge there, but noted the bridge had been talked about for almost two decades.
“It was needed. It was Mr. Smithson’s dream, so he should get credit for it,” she said of tentative plans to name it the Jack Smithson Memorial Bridge upon its completion, which is still several months away.
“He’s one of those people who wanted to do things for his district,” Harvey added. “I’m anxious to see what it’s going to look like.”
Glenn concurred about Smithson, who was the chairman of the county’s Highway and Bridge Committee. He said Smithson was working on the project even when Glenn came into office eight years ago.
“He was in the process of clearing it out when he passed away,” he said, noting the project is progressing mostly on schedule. Additionally, a plaque bearing the Harveys’ names on it will be added on the portion of the bridge closest to the farm. Harvey said it will bear the names of her parents, Pete and Stella Harvey.
County commissioner Bessie Smithson, who took over her husband’s seat after he passed away, and who was recently re-elected, said it’s been a long time coming.
“Jack tried to get something going out there but he just couldn’t,” Smithson said, noting a lack of funding as one barrier.
“He just knew that for the people of Viola and Morrison, how important it was and it was needed so badly,” she added. “He just felt it appropriate to get it for the people.”
Harvey credited the person she knows as Ms. Bessie for her continued efforts but said Smithson had the vision that her father didn’t see.
“He never really thought about what it was going to be,” she said of her father’s perceptions of the use of the bridge, “but I’m glad Mr. Smithson had the foresight to see what was going to happen.”
She added she is comforted by the efforts of Bouldin, Glenn and Assistant Road Superintendent Levie Glenn as well as the Smithsons.
“It’s just good to know there are good people around. They were community minded and wanted to do something for somebody else. We’re just glad to have them around.”