T-L Photos/CARRI GRAHAM Bridgeport Elementary School 5th grade students ready to walk on the Blaine Hill “S” Bridge during a field trip Tuesday morning.

BLAINE — Bridgeport Elementary School students learned the historical significance of the Blaine Hill “S” Bridge after taking a field trip to the site Tuesday.

Dozens of fifth- and sixth-grade students were transported to the bridge to learn and explore Ohio’s oldest sandstone bridge, which was constructed in 1828 as part of the old National Road.

The entire fifth grade class took its trip, first arriving around 9:30 a.m. Once they arrived, students were split up into four groups where they rotated through participating in a bridge tour and history lesson, period games, viewing of antique vehicles, and an arts class.

Kim Mokros, event coordinator for Pease Township Parks and Recreation, said the Historical Blaine Bridge educational event was a joint effort between Pease Township Parks and Recreation, the school, Belmont County Tourism Council and Ohio National Road Association, who all aided in the day’s activities.

“Everyone did an amazing job of getting this all organized,” she said.

Mokros said students came prepared, as they have recently been learning about the bridge prior to the trip. She said though the bridge has been closed to all vehicles since 1994, it remains open for residents to visit and walk on.

Bob Krajnyak, social studies teacher for both fifth and sixth grades, said students have been researching the bridge for the past week leading up to the trip. Afterward, fifth grade students will complete posters about the bridge, while sixth graders will do a PowerPoint presentation on what they’ve learned.

“It’s very important for them to learn about the local history and the history that goes with the state of Ohio. There’s a lot of things here that the kids don’t know about,” he said.

The bridge tour was given by John S. Marshall, a member of the Ohio National Road Association; and Gordie Longshaw, a retired school teacher and resident who has family ties to the bridge. Marshall spoke about the important contributions Belmont County made in transportation history.

He asked students to look at the bricks lining the bridge, describing them as the “footsteps of history.”

Longshaw’s family owned an auto garage shop at the end of the street just before the bridge — the building is currently a storage area — where many motorists from out-of-state, who were not used to driving on hilly roads, would stop to repair their vehicles after driving down the bridge’s slope and exhausting their brakes and engines.

Ann Rattine, schoolmarm from the Great Western School House, taught students period games such as graces where two players, who are equipped with a set of wooden sticks and a hoop, stand opposite each other. One player starts with the hoop over the sticks, flinging it towards the other player who attempts to catch the hoop with their sticks.

A handful of antique Model A Ford cars from 1927-31 were on display for students to view and learn about. Melvin Allen, a member of the Penn Ohio A Ford Club out of Dover, brought the cars down, along with fellow members, to talk and show off the vehicles to students — something many of them thoroughly enjoyed, stating it was their favorite activity of the day.

Mokras noted that the cars present at the event were the same type of vehicle that drove on the bridge in its day.

Jackee Pugh, executive director of the Belmont County Tourism Council, headed up the art group, along with the Bridgeport Public Library, where students used sponges to paint a fall collage.

“It’s a fun day to see so many community partners come together to help put off a wonderful event for the Bridgeport students. They’re learning about some local history here in the county that was in their backyard and they probably never knew that the Blaine S Bridge was here,” she said.

Fifth graders Camden Weiland and Alexander Vargas exclaimed “thank you” for being able to participate in the field trip.

“Thank you for letting us be here. It’s a good experience,” Weiland said.

Both boys said learning the old fashioned games was their favorite part of the trip, adding that the game of graces was in particular.

Averi Finney said it was “really fun and interesting” exploring the old bridge. She said looking at the antique cars was her favorite part.

Sophia Bokone said it was cool learning about the older cars. She said she enjoyed seeing how the engines run and how long they have been able to do so.

Cassidy Parsons said she liked painting and being able to see the bridge.

“It’s really cool,” she added.

Caidyn Massey said she liked being able to walk across the bridge and learning about its history.

Following the fifth graders’ trip, the sixth grade students were brought by bus for their bridge field trip which was held from noon to 2 p.m.

The event was sponsored by Pease Township Parks and Recreation who provided lunch to the students. Mokros sent out a special thanks to PMS Management Systems and the Ohio Department of Transportation who cleaned the bridge in preparation for the field trip.