Cheryl and I decided to photograph the Washington Bridge today. Locals sometimes refer to the bridge as the Devon Bridge because it connects the Devon section of Milford, CT with the Town of Stratford. The bridge is approx. 859′ long and 43′ wide. It consists of two northbound and two southbound vehicular lanes and one pedestrian path. Locally this is a segment of Rt.1.
Historically speaking the first bridge located here was built in 1813 out of wood. The bridge was rebuilt on two occasions. The first time resulted from most of the bridge drifting out to sea after being struck by large chunks of floating ice. The second time was when the Steamer Monitor collided with it.
In 1845 an iron bridge was constructed. This bridge included a swing span to allow boat passage. It included a walking path on the northbound lane and a trolley line on the southbound lane.
In 1921 the Washington Bridge, (current bridge), was constructed by the Bethlehem Steel Bridge Company. This firm had over 1000 bridges to its credit up to this point. It consisted of (2) vehicular lanes and (2) sets of trolley tracks. Ultimately the trolley tracks eliminated to make way for the current design.
It is believed that George Washington crossed the river at this point in 1775 on a ferry. So is this bridge named after George Washington or after the Washington Bridge Company that built the first wooden bridge here? Or did the Washington Bridge Company name their company after George Washington? Beats me but somewhere there must be a tie in.
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