Bridge of squirrels

Published 7:00 pm Thursday, January 15, 2015

Squirrel lovers, and squirrels, rejoice. The NUTTY NARROWS BRIDGE, pictured, dedicated to the safe passage of squirrels over and above a Longview, Wash., street, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

A little background, from the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation website (http://tinyurl.com/nuttyhistory), which also provided the photos shown: “AMOS PETERS, the bridge’s designer and builder, discovered the need for the bridge when he noticed a red squirrel … that had met a vehicular demise. Peters collected the remains of the dead squirrel and carried it home to show his three children.

“After some months in the family freezer, the children … pooled their allowance money and took the frozen squirrel to a taxidermist … It was their 1963 Christmas gift to their father. This stuffed squirrel, the inspiration for the Nutty Narrows Bridge, is on display at the office of the Amos Peters Construction Company to this day.”

As Paul Harvey used to say, “Now you know the rest of the story.”

— Elleda Wilson