THE BRIDGE: In recent columns, we’ve written about the old
Seneca Junction bridge and the vision of the people responsible for
its construction – and for many other developments we take for
granted in Bradford.[neWLine]

Today and tomorrow, we’d like to share with readers the “”inside
story”” of the bridge’s construction taken from the book, “”Dawn to
Sunset,”” an autobiography of the late Evan J. Jones of Bradford, a
Congressman who played a key role in the bridge’s
construction.[neWLine]

Our thanks to Jackie Jones for sharing with us this interesting
book. Her late husband Alan was Evan’s grandson.[neWLine]

The elder Jones writes: “”To give a little color to any
influence I may have had as a Congressman, let me tell here how we
got New York State to build the concrete road from the Pennsylvania
State line to Seneca Junction, on the Limestone
side.””[neWLine]

“”On one of my trips home, three important citizens of Bradford
– A.D. Burns, A.J. Bond and Otto Koch – dropped into my office and
handed me a check for $90,000, payable to the State of New York and
said, ‘E.J., we want you to take this down to Albany and give it to
the Commissioner of Highways, conditioned upon it paving the road
from the Pennsylvania line through Limestone Village and thence on
to Seneca Junction to meet the New York State improved road running
between Salamanca and Olean.'[neWLine]

“”In that day, a mile of highway could be for $15,000, and the
distance was approximately six miles.[neWLine]

“”The common traveled road, at that time, was on the west side
of the river, leaving Limestone off to the right and crossing the
river and three very bad grade crossings – the Erie, Pennsylvania
and B.R.&P.[neWLine]

“”They wanted the improved road to be on the east side of the
river, starting where the concrete road ended in Pennsylvania and
thence on through the village of Limestone and connecting with the
Salamanca-Olean road at Seneca Junction.[neWLine]

“”I took the check down to Albany, walked into the
Commissioner’s office and introduced myself. He had just recently
been appointed. I unfolded a blueprint showing roads, routes,
etc.””[neWLine]

Stay with us, we conclude this fascinating story tomorrow.