Annisquam Bridge
| Annisquam Bridge | |||
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| National Register of Historic Places | |||
 The bridge in 2012 |
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| location | Gloucester , Massachusetts , United States | ||
| Coordinates | 42 ° 39 '17.7 " N , 70 ° 40' 30.5" W | ||
| Built | 1861 | ||
| NRHP number | [1] 83000572 | ||
| The NRHP added | June 23, 1983 | ||
The Annisquam Bridge (alternatively Wood Pile Bridge ) is a yoke bridge in the state of Massachusetts in the United States , which connects the district of Gloucester's Annisquam Village on a peninsula with the mainland of Cape Ann . It is only accessible to residents and leads Bridgewater Street across Lobster Cove . The Annisquam Bridge has been listed as a construction on the National Register of Historic Places since June 23, 1983 .
The total of 440.5 ft (134.3 m ) long bridge is made entirely of wood and rests on 29 pile yokes, each consisting of four individual piles and spaced 15 ft (4.6 m) apart. Due to significant weather conditions, the bridge is subject to constant repairs and maintenance measures, but its appearance essentially corresponds to the original state of its construction in 1861. In 1947 a section that had previously served as a hand-operated drawbridge was removed and replaced by a rigid construction.
Historical meaning
In the middle of the 18th century, Annisquam developed into an important fishing and industrial port, which, however, could only be reached from Gloucester via the land connection located far to the north and therefore very difficult to reach. In the 1830s, a first bridge was therefore built over the bay, which quickly led to further growth of Annisquam. In 1842, the state therefore approved a new bridge that should now lead across the bay. However, this was not actually built until 1847 and reached from the southeast to the northwest of the bay and thus made a detour of 2 mi (3.2 km ) superfluous.
To maintain the bridge, a toll was levied that had to be paid by all users. However, as the use of Gloucester Harbor increased in the mid-19th century, the commercial importance of Annisquam declined, so that the bridge was no longer economically viable 12 years after it was built. It was therefore replaced in 1861 for 2587 US dollars (approx. 77,000 dollars today) by its successor, which still exists today.
At the end of the 19th century, Annisquam Village had become a residential colony that was mainly used as a summer resort . However, residents continued to use the bridge to catch trams and buses that stopped at the east end of the bridge on the mainland. Due to the increasing silting up of the bay, larger ships could no longer call at the inner areas, which is why the part, which was no longer required as a drawbridge, was removed in 1947 in order to save the considerable maintenance and repair costs.
In the following years, the bridge fell into disrepair due to lack of maintenance and significant weather influences from salt water and winter icing and therefore had to be closed to traffic in 1961. Since no state funds could be made available, redevelopment plans were discarded in 1965. Today the bridge is therefore only available to pedestrians and cyclists, but is still important for the residents.
In the entire state of Massachusetts there is only one other yoke bridge of comparable length with a structure in Duxbury .
See also
literature
- Frontiero, Wendy; Usher, Donald K .: National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form. ( PDF ) National Park Service , January 13, 1983, accessed on March 15, 2016 (English, accessible via the "NR" button).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Entry in the National Register Information System . National Park Service , accessed June 14, 2016
- ↑ cf. Frontiero / Usher, p. 2.
- ↑ a b cf. Frontiero / Usher, p. 3.
- ↑ cf. Frontiero / Usher, p. 3 f.
- ↑ a b cf. Frontiero / Usher, p. 4.