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Brookville Picture Book Pulished By Former Borough Manager


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Brookville Picture Book Published By Former Borough Manager

David-Taylor.jpgBROOKVILLE, Pa. (EYT)- If you’ve ever wondered what the city of Brookville looked like in 1860, there’s a new book out to let you know just that.

“The Way We Were: Brookville, Pennsylvania Through the Camera’s Lens” is the product of years of work by David L. Taylor. He’s a Brookville native who previously oversaw the city’s Main Street program and served as Brookville’s Borough Manager.

The book includes 280 pages of pictures ranging from 1860 to the 1950’s.

“I wanted to avoid contemporary pictures,” Taylor notes. “I wanted these to just be historic views.”

Taylor has also provided a little bit of history about those pictures many of which come from his family’s collection. They first came to the area in 1832. Other pictures are postcards and old pictures he began collecting about 30 years ago.

It was a Facebook comment that prompted him to compile the book. Taylor regularly posts to the group, “Brookville Pennsylvania Photo Project.” (found here. ) In February, Jason Geer posted the thought that Taylor should create a coffee table book of his pictures. The post got nearly 100 comments and has now become a reality.

Taylor believes most of the pictures have never been published before. In addition to his personal pictures, he found some online and got permission to use them in his book and others came from Jefferson County History Center.

He says he doesn’t really have a favorite picture but is really fond of one scene and the story behind it. It’s a swinging bridge that used to span the creek by Memorial Park in Brookville. After Taylor posted the picture online, he was contacted by a woman who told him that her father had built that bridge in 1918.

The bridge was built for employees of the Pittsburg and Shawmut Railroad. Many of its employees lived in the town and had a long route to get to the site.

Swinging-Bridge-1-1.jpg

(PHOTO contributed by David Taylor)

The company contributed some money and supplies and a suspension bridge was built where a previous bridge was frequently underwater. The new bridge lasted until the late 1950s. Taylor says he has had people share with him memories of riding over the bridge on bicycles or running across it to make it swing. Some remember being terrified of the bridge because it would swing when they crossed it.

Taylor says there was really no theme or topic he had in mind when selecting pictures for the book.

“The order of the pictures is totally random,” he says. “They’re not alphabetized, they’re not really chronological. The only two that are in there that make any sense chronologically are page one and page two.”

Page one is an 1890s view of Port Barnett, so-called because it was settled by Joseph Barnett in the 1790s, leading to the creation of Jefferson County. The picture shows Barnett’s hotel which Taylor believes was built in 1810. It also includes a lumber mill and grist mill owned by James Humphrey, a Barnett relative.

On page two of Taylor’s book, you’ll find the Jefferson County Courthouse. Other than that, he says the pictures are random, although there is a table of contents to help if you’re looking for something specific.

You can get a copy of Taylor’s book Saturday, December 14, at a book signing to be held at the Jefferson County History Center at 172 Main Street in Brookville. You can also email Taylor at tta.david@gmail.com for an order form.

Taylor says he’s amazed not only by the number of people who are interested in his book, but also how many young people are excited about it. It’s something he found out while grocery shopping. While he was checking out, the cashier asked Taylor if he was the man writing the book about Brookville.

“This young man was high school age,” Taylor recounts. “He said I’m really enjoying your posts. To get the younger generation to be interested in this kind of stuff is what gives it life.”

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