Life on the south side of Alpha wasn't quite as urban. The turnpike was well to the north of town and the traction cut right through. South of the Harbine Industrial Complex the Beaver Creek was a little wider as the Big and Little merged above Shakertown Road.
Kids would often track down the creek from the 'Louis Branch' (just after the two Beaver Creeks merged) and would play at the dam, pull fish from the deep fishing holes, and kick even out the side boards of the Alpha covered bridge so that they could jump into the deep water.
Ruth Booher-Stafford's childhood home was the home south of the Harbine House on the previous page. She tells great stories of fun at 'our bridge', the Alpha bridge. One day, upon returning home from town, they noticed the bridge bowing down to the water's edge. An over-weight coal truck taking a shortcut had tried to cross the bridge and it gave way, creating a deep V in the center. The truck dumped it's load in the middle of the bridge and made it's escape up the slope. He was never caught and the bridge depicted above was torn down and not rebuilt until the Yellow Brick Road bridge you just crossed was constructed in the early 21st century.
Ina Hartman
Ina Hartman
Along Louis Branch
Along Louis Branch
Alpha Covered Bridge
Alpha Covered Bridge
Homemade Canoe
Homemade Canoe
Kids At The Dam
Kids At The Dam
Booher Household
Booher Household
https://beavercreekliving.com/book/item/102-book-eightyseven#sigProId6fcd4ced59