On April 29, the third grade class from The Boys' Latin School traveled to Annapolis for tours of the Naval Academy, Sands House, State House, and Maryland State Archives. Ed Papenfuse, Tim Baker, and Rocky Rockefeller led several portions of the field trip, mostly at the State House and State Archives. 

The thank you letters sent to the Archives provide insight into the aspects of the field trip that the nine year old boys found interesting. The most popular place was the state archivist's office, especially the map shown by Ed, and the most popular object was a piece of the Peggy Stewart. One student described Ed's office as "tidy, big, and packed with history." Almost as fascinating was Maryland's copy of the Declaration of Independence, and, of course, document preservation. The preservation lab was portrayed as a place to fix old papers or stop decay. 

Other highlights included operating the mobile shelving in the stacks and sitting in expensive chairs in the Sands House. The model boat, silver plates, acorn, and lightening rod at the State House intrigued some students. Stories also captured their attention. Ed's tale about the shower in the house of Thomas Jefferson's doctor prompted one boy to wonder why Jefferson was living there. Always popular is the box of ice cream biscuits, precursor of ice cream cones, filed as exhibits in a court suit involving rights to manufacture them. Who can argue with the observation that "Ice cream 
wouldn't be as good if there were no cones." 
 

• the means of securing the lamps on the research tables, 
• the oldest record at the Archives, 
• the number of rare records at the Archives, and 
• the possibility of the complete decay of a record. 

Finally, the field trip inspired three boys to say they want to be archivists when they grow up. And, to the question, "Is it fun to be an archivist?", the answer is yes. 

BRIDGES IN PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, 1696-1765 
by Pat Melville 

An examination of records of the Prince George's County Court for information about roads revealed many entries concerning bridges. The documents appear in the court minutes as recorded in (Court Record) in series C1191, (Levy Book) for 1734-1765 in series C1245, and (Road Papers) for 1747-1754 in series C1292. The levy record shows annual expenditures for the court system and county administration. The road papers contain bridge bonds and a petition. 

The county court usually contracted with an individual for the construction of bridges and initially assigned maintenance to the road supervisors. By 1726, the justices began to 

incorporate maintenance into the construction contracts, making the builder responsible for the condition of the bridge for a specific period of time. 

Mention of the bridge or bridges over the Western Branch occurred frequently throughout the records. In June 1698 the grand jury reported the need for repair. Three months later John Browne and Joshua Hall filed a petition for its repair. In June 1699 the court designated three justices to meet at Col. Ninian Beall's mill to agree with Archibald Edmundson for rebuilding or repairing the bridge. 

Mention of the bridge or bridges over the Western Branch occurred frequently throughout the records. In June 1698, the grand jury reported the need for repair. Three months later John Browne and Joshua Hall filed a petition for its repair. In June 1699, the court designated three justices to meet at Col. Ninian Beall's mill to agree with Archibald Edmundson for rebuilding or repairing the bridge. 

In August 1710, the court ordered the overseers in Patuxent, Collington, and Mount Calvert hundreds to meet with laborers to repair the Western Branch bridge. Three years later the justices were seeking someone to build a new one. Construction was completed by August 1714, when overseers were ordered to clear a road to the "new bridge over Western Branch." 

The court minutes for November 1726 contain an example of a construction contract that includes a maintenance component. John Clarvoe agreed to build the Piscataway Bridge and to maintain it for 20 years. From 1735 to 1756, the court paid William Thomas for maintenance of the structure, a task taken over by George Smallwood by 1759. 
 

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