Steve Mikesell, principal at ICF, a large environmental consulting company and former Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer and author of Historic Highway Bridges of California will be our speaker in conjunction with our latest exhibition, Bridging the Past: The Stone Bridges of Napa County.

Mikesell will focus on two things: the bridges as intrinsically interesting pieces of historic engineering; and the role of these bridges in the cultural fabric of the valley, including their potential role in heritage-based tourism in the valley.  His conclusion is that the bridges are of incredible value, historically, culturally and potentially from an economic stand point, to an extent that the county would be foolish to replace them.