Collections : [West Virginia and Regional History Center]

Kemp was a consulting engineer and industrial archaeologist for the restoration of the tide lock and basin to help with a revitalization project for Alexandria, Virginia. The box includes the Preliminary Archaeological Survey Report, field notes, pamphlets, photos, correspondence, clippings, and a consulting agreement. Additionally, it includes pamphlets on the history of the City of Alexandria. The box includes facsimile correspondence with the United States Department of Commerce regarding the Geodetic Survey maps and charts, facsimile newspapers, reports and reference lists regarding those facsimiles. Finally, the box includes original slides that show engineering drawings of the canal. The following oversize materials were moved to Map Cabinet 12, Drawer 4, Folder 8: 18 sheets of facsimile and original newspapers (1831-1845, 1976-1985, and undated), 10 maps (1838, 1877-1884, 1949-1973 and undated), 1 illustration (undated).

Kemp researched bridges across the United States as part of his restoration efforts and publications. The box includes facsimiles of the following: photographic prints, drawings, patent applications, and book excerpts. Also includes original photographs, slides, clippings and correspondence. Subjects include general bridges; covered bridges; mills; the patenting process for bridge technologies during the 1800s; Rideu Canal in Ottawa, Canada; St. Antonius de Padua Mission in Sacramento, California; Bridgeport Covered Bridge in Bridgeport, California; and buildings in Nevada City, California. The following oversized items were moved to Box 342: one clipping (1983), two engineering drawings (undated), and two sheets of facsimile book excerpts (undated).

Kemp conducted research on bridge patents. He may have been preparing for writing articles and books about bridge patents, including American Bridge Patents: The First Century (1790-1890). It includes correspondence, reports, floppy disks and facsimiles of the following: book excerpts, clippings, engineering drawings, and patent applications. Subjects include bridges, the patenting process, covered bridges, Burr truss bridges, bridge engineers and engineering developments. Correspondents include Richard Sanders Allen. The following oversized items were moved to Box 343: three sheets of a scholarly article (1857) and two sheets of engineering drawings (1857).

Kemp maintained research files about bridges and assisted in planning the historical marker about the Brownsville Cast Iron Arch Bridge (also called the Dunlap's Creek Bridge) in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. The box includes correspondence, photographic prints, photographic slides, scholarly journal articles, reports, student papers, event programs and newsletters. The box also includes the following facsimiles: correspondence, reports, photographs, journal articles, book excerpts, clippings and engineering drawings. Subjects include the Brownsville Cast Iron Arch Bridge, bridges of Europe and North America, engineering, railroad bridges, the history of bridge architecture in the United States and bridge construction. The following oversize items were moved to Map Cabinet 12, Drawer 11, Folder 4: one map (1987), ten sheets of clippings (1883-1885 and undated), and three engineering drawings (1987 and undated).

Kemp conducted research on canals. The box includes pamphlets, a postcard, a ticket, lecture notices, and bound copies of the United States Congressional Series Set. Subjects include canals, boats, dams, rivers, lock tender houses, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Canada and West Virginia. The following oversize items have been moved to Map Cabinet 12, Drawer 4, Folder 3: Fifty-four pamphlets (1971-1999 and undated), one map (undated), three newspapers (1975-1982).

Kemp maintained research materials about cement and concrete. This box includes reports, clippings, correspondence, and photographic prints. The box also includes facsimiles of the following: book excerpts, clippings, meeting bulletins, handwritten notes, and reports. Subjects include the civil engineer Canvass White, hydraulic cement, lime, mortar, concrete, Portland cement, and the cement industries in New York, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania (especially Lehigh County). The following oversized item was moved to Box 343: one chart (undated).

This box includes Kemp's research on Charles Ellet Jr. and the Wheeling Suspension Bridge in preparation for a variety of publications and before he documented the structure of the Wheeling Suspension Bridge. Box includes facsimiles of the following: correspondence, book excerpts, bound copies of the United States Congressional Series Set, engineering drawings and clippings. The box also includes transcribed correspondence and clippings, original photographs, original correspondence and handwritten notes. Subjects include Charles Ellet Jr., the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, suspension bridges in South America, cables in a suspension bridge, and the process for convincing Congress to fund a bridge project. Correspondents include Ellet, wife Elvira or "Ellie," Henry Moore, and Wheeling and Belmont Bridge Company.

Kemp researched Charles Ellet Jr. as part of his restoration of the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, and he eventually published several articles on the nineteenth century engineer. Kemp received assistance from Don Sayenga, who was researching John A. Roebling. This box contains materials from Kemp's research, including correspondence, transcriptions of correspondence, Congressional series, reports, drawings, and brochures. The box also includes facsimiles of the following: book excerpts, correspondence, student papers, engineering drawings, drawings, bound copies of the United States Congressional Series Set, maps, notes, reports, and clippings. Subjects include the Wheeling and Belmont Bridge Company; the Fairmount Bridge over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; the Niagara Suspension Bridge over the Niagara River connecting Niagara Falls, Niagara County, New York and Niagara Falls, Ontario in Canada; anchorages on the Wheeling Suspension Bridge over the Ohio River in Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia; the proposal for a bridge over the Potomac River; canals; and bridge cables. The following oversized items were moved to Box 345: seven facsimile engineering drawings (undated).

Kemp researched Charles Ellet Jr. as part of his restoration of the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, and he eventually published several articles on the nineteenth century engineer. Kemp received assistance from Don Sayenga, who was researching John A. Roebling. This box contains materials from Kemp's research, including correspondence, notes, transcriptions of correspondence, lectures, reports, essays, clippings, brochures, and journal article drafts. The box also includes facsimiles of the following: book excerpts, correspondence, burial ephemera, reports, bound copies of the United States Congressional Series Set. Proposals, engineering drawings, building specifications, charters, family trees, finding aids, clippings, and sheet music. Subjects include the Ellet family; Ellet's life; John A. Roebling; the Wheeling Suspension Bridge over the Ohio River in Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia; the Fairmount Bridge over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; a proposed bridge over the Mississippi River; and a proposed bridge over the Potomac River. The following oversize items were moved to Box 344: two facsimile sheets of book excerpts (1848) and two facsimile sheets of correspondence (1839).

Kemp collected materials in preparation for a survey of the restoration required for covered bridges across West Virginia. The box includes correspondence, photographs, reports and report drafts, brochures, facsimile book excerpts, student papers, engineering drawings, clippings, journal articles, pamphlets, maps, bibliographies. Subjects include covered bridges across the United States, especially in West Virginia. Highlights include NRHP nomination reports for the following covered bridges: Hokes Mill, Indian Creek, Fletcher, Rooting Creek, Simpson Creek/W.T. Law, Sarvis Fork/Sandyville, Dents Run, Laurel Creek, Locust Creek, Fish Creek and Carrollton. The following oversized items were moved to Map Cabinet 12, Drawer 5, Folder 2: two facsimile photographs (1930 and undated), one map (undated), fourteen sheets of clippings (1981-1993); three sheets of engineering drawings (undated), three sheets of lists of data (1965), one pamphlet (1993), two book jackets (circa 1992).