I’ve been writing about Middletown history for, what seems like, all my life. To write about Portland and East Hampton history, I feel a little bit like an interloper in someone else’s territory. So, to take on the task of sharing stories about history east of the river, I ask for the readers’ indulgence, and I will use a bridge to link us together.
How about the 1896 bridge?
Portland and East Hampton, jointly known as Chatham until Portland separated in 1841, were originally part of the vast settlement of Middletown in 1652. Middletown families settled the towns east of the Connecticut River, and ferries and a frozen river linked the communities in winter.
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In 1896 an iron and steel bridge made the connection more reliable. It was a 1,300-foot long drawbridge financed by the Middletown & Portland Bridge Company, which was formed for this purpose. The construction was done by the Berlin Iron Bridge Company. The expense would be recouped through tolls on the bridge.
The site selected for the bridge was approximately where the ferries had run. The draw span was right about in the middle of the bridge, and each span was 450-feet long with fixed spans at each end. One engineering volume claimed it was the longest drawbridge span in the world. Seems like maybe this was only a very brief record!
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To determine how high the floor of the bridge needed to be, engineers looked at the tides (the Connecticut River rises with the tide about 2.5 feet each day) and the high water mark brought on by flooding and the spring freshet (about 25-feet above the regular water mark). So, they added 6-feet for good measure.
They built the 26-foot wide bridge to accommodate two lanes of carriage traffic and one trolley line. Sidewalks were not provided initially, but the bridge was designed so that they could be added. Clearly this happened since a 1920 photograph of the entrance to the bridge shows a wooden sidewalk running along the south side of the bridge.
The draw, which allowed the bridge to open to allow ships to pass through, was operated by three 25-horse power electric motors, which were powered by the Middletown street power lines through a cable laid under the water and brought up through a support pier in the middle of the bridge. A person operated the draw from a powerhouse built in the central tower.
The bridge was also lighted by incandescent lights and had signal lights to alert people when the span was to open.
It seems this bridge was quite spectacular for its time and several engineering books were written about its construction.
A new bridge was begun in 1936 to replace the old drawbridge. Once the Arrigoni Bridge was completed in 1938, the older span was removed.
As work begins on the Arrigoni and access between the two towns becomes challenging and frustrating, we can be thankful that we do not contend with tolls on the bridge or a draw bridge that fails to close back up!
About this column: Twice a month, Liz will write a historical piece on Portland or East Hampton. Feel free to comment below.
