Black River at Downers, Weathersfield, Vermont

A prolific illustrator and documentarian, Eric Sloane also wrote and illustrated his own books on topics ranging from weather to farm tools. He was a fine art painter who did wonderful landscapes.

Slone’s given name was Everard Jean Hinrichs. He was born into an affluent family in New York City and ran away at the age of fourteen, earning a living as an itinerant sign painter. Later, he studied at the Art Students League in New York City and at Yale’s School of Fine and Applied Art in New Haven, Connecticut.

The Black River is a tributary of the Connecticut River as it flows through Vermont. After gushing through the gorge at Cavendish, the river slows and widens by the time it reaches Downers Covered Bridge and flows on to Perkinsville. The bridge dates to 1840 and is a Town lattice construction. The 120-foot span was renovated in 2007 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.