The name Aaron Burr, a former Vice-President of the United States in the 19th century, is well known even today because of his killing of Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
But not as well known is his contemporary and cousin, Theodore Burr. I never heard of him, either, until my spouse and I took a road trip to some of the 42 libraries in the Four County Library System in New York State that my area libraries belong to.
Today and tomorrow, let's travel to Oxford, New York, population around 1330 people.
At one time, in that village, one Theodore Burr, master bridge builder whose Burr Truss (perfected in 1804) still exists in a number of covered bridges, built a home between 1809-1811.
Today, his home houses the Oxford Memorial Library. I'll show more of the library tomorrow, but today I wanted to show you some of the works of Theodore Burr.
This house is the last known work of Theodore Burr, and his presence is felt everywhere in the building.
A complete picture of the front of the library can be found here but all I took was a picture of a small part of it. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Let's go in.
Some artwork on the first floor. I don't know if this was original to Theodore Burr or a later tenant, but it certainly is appropriate.
On a bookshelf, two models of covered bridges Burr designed.
Joining with Sandee's Comedy Plus for #WordlessWednesday.
...Oxford, NY is new to me.
ReplyDeleteI love off the beaten track history. I’d never heard of Theodore Burr, but he sounds so interesting.
ReplyDeleteWhat a house!
ReplyDeleteGreat history post and photos ~ thanks,
ReplyDeleteWishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Just so adorable! No, never heard of Theodore Burr. I don't think we have any Burr Truss covered bridges in Oregon. We do have the most west of the Mississippi though! 54
ReplyDeleteI'll come with you to explore. Beautiful. I didn't' know about the VP either.
ReplyDeleteThank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday. ♥
Love these old buildings. Hope they build a time machine someday where we can go and visit all these amazing eras in history.
ReplyDeleteI love covered bridges! Even before I read/watched Legend of Sleepy Hollow...
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing building. Gorgeous!
I never know what I'll find here! Loved.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of the guy, but he has a lovely home!
ReplyDeleteYou've uncovered some interesting places on this library road trip of yours. What a great little adventure.
ReplyDeleteWow! what a lovely building what an interesting post :-)
ReplyDeleteHave a librarytastic week 👍
Love the books on the shelf and the staircase
ReplyDeleteI live visiting historical places.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize there was a Theodore Burr. Legend has it that my ancestors traveled with the Burr rapscallion, hoping to land in Texas and start a new country. Fortunately for my relatives, this did not happen!
ReplyDelete