The Rite of Passage and a Historic Old Bridge

One of my fondest memories as a child was when we'd load up the old station wagon and head off to Riverside Park. It's truly amazing what we survived there as young children. The things we did there people would call child protection services on parents for allowing today. My parents would just open the car door and off we'd go escaping into whatever adventures our little minds would lead us into. Whether wading through the spring flood waters netting/spearing trapped fish, wandering out on a tree branch over the river to fish, catching a baby duck to feel it's softness to see who could throw a stone the furthest off a bridge, we always found plenty of things to capture our tiny imaginations.

It's not unusual for me to pick up my grandchildren, head down to the park and see what adventures are bestowed upon us. So far this year we've waded through the flood waters, climbed the mountains of sand carried up by the flood water from the river and stuffed the empty cavities of huge decayed trees that were cut down with small smiling faces. This past couple weeks with soaring heat and no rain our exploration opportunities for changes to the landscape left us falling back onto a traditional old favorite, seeing who could throw a rock the farthest into the water.

Back when I was a kid this spot contained a cement slab with a wooden rail for a bridge across the canal. A few feet from that was another cement slab with no rails that ran across a small stream. There was no fortified railings to keep someone from driving through or off the slabs, back then you were just considered an idiot with no litigation claims that someone else didn't foresee your inability to drive across a bridge with caution, there was a lot to be said for taking personal responsibility, something that somehow we've lost, now it's always someone else's fault for one's shortcomings. The bridge that would come to replace the old slab and rail bridge was part of a truss style bridge built in 1904 that sat at the furthest north point of the park that crossed the river. The truss style bridge was built after a wooden bridge gave way to flood waters in 1903.

local-history-north-park-bridge

The truss style bridge lasted for around eight decades until it started showing signs of serious deterioration. In 1988 the bridge was closed to traffic and a fight ensured among preservationist and local governments over it's historic status. The preservationist finally won the fight when state and federal officials told the local governments that no funds would be used to build a new bridge unless they found a way to preserve the old bridge. In 1991 the preservationist and the local governments came to a agreement that part of the truss would be utilized somewhere within Riverside Park. They took park of the truss and floated it downstream to wait it's fate for utilization within the park.

local-history-north-park-bridge

The massive steel truss sat in the park for several more years rusting away before the city commission finally decided to spend several hundred thousand dollars to restore it and use it for a replacement for the old slab and rail bridge in the park. I remember it quite vividly because there was outrage by the local taxpayers that created a huge debate in the editorial section of the press about spending that amount of money on the restoration. The debate raged on even after the project was finished and I remember writing a editorial about how someone could complain about the best thing that had happened to that park in a long time. It was absolutely breathtaking to see the new addition and what they had done with it.

WM3WB5_Old_North_Park_Bridge

Upon completion of the project plaques were placed to describe the truss's historic register and status. Through out the years the lush green foliage of tree and bushes would fill in the landscape, enhancing the natural beauty of the lagoon on one side and the channel to the river on the other.

WM3WB5_Old_North_Park_Bridge

---

This is my entry into @juliank's challenge posted here:
https://steemit.com/cityscapephotography/@juliank/happytuesdaysteemitshareyourlandscapeandcityscapephotography-201803060000002400

Unless otherwise noted all photos taken by me, this is a photo story adventure/education more so then a entry for consideration of a prize. I hope you enjoy my sharing of photo stories.