HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen-Auburn, 2004-07-29, Page 26AUBURN - 150 YEARS OF HISTORY. PAGE 5.
From a distance
A view of the mighty Maitland River in Auburn. (Photo courtesy of
Ruth Jardin)
Bridging the distance
This .bridge spanned the Maitland River in 1895. At the west end was the Jacob Kuntz
brewery. (Courtesy photo)
Patterson Bridge marks 50th
As Auburn celebrates its 150th
anniversary of the founding in 2004,
the year also coincides with the 50th
anniversary of the opening of the
handsome Patterson Bridge on
County Rd. 25 over the Maitland
River.
That bridge, was named for T. Roy .
Patterson, who served as Huron
County engineer from 1919 until his
leath in 1951. The bridge was
ledicated by his wife on Dec. 30.
954 when she unveiled a plaque
Ind cut the ribbon declaring the'
midge officially open. The bridge
was designed by the Pattersons' son
Peter. who served as' county
engineer from 1952-1956 and was
constructed by the county's bridge-
building team under John Snell.
It was quite a feat of engineering
at the time. It was built nearly 1,000
feet upstream from the old bridge
and cost what was an astounding
price at the time: $225,500. The
bridge itself is 360 feet long in four
spans of continuous concrete. To
smooth the route through Auburn,
part of the hill to the west, known as
Lawlor's Hill, had to be cut down
while at the other end, the route of
Maitland Crescent was changed to
avoid a steep winding grade into the
village.
Throughout history, the mighty
Maitland had caused plenty of
problems for bridge builders and
even this modern bridge had its
brush with the river's power. It was
partly built when rains came and the
river rose to a level where it was
feared the bridge would be ruined.
Luckily, while some plywood forms
and supports were washed away, no
harm was done to the new bridge
itself.
The Maitland had been a
challenge from the days of first
settlement. In a 1955 story in The
Blyth Standard, Charles Asquith of
Auburn told how Eneas Elkin, after
taking up the farm on the northwest
corner of Hullett Twp., had set up a
ferry service across the Maitland to
be run by his wife during the day
when the men were busy in the field.
Although it was unknown exactly
where the ferry crossed the river,
Asquith speculated it was probably a
little north of where the dam was
built.
The first bridge across the river
was built in 1859. Belden's Atlas of
1879 describes the bridge: "The
Maitland River is spanned at Auburn
by a fine wood truss bridge which
rests on substantial stone piers; the
cost of this bridge was $10,500; it
being the most expensive in the
county with one exception."
Substantial as it was, Asquith
recalled that one spring day in 1884,
five years after the Belden account.
two young Auburn men, Joseph
Lawson and William Sturdy, were
on the bridge watching the ice flows
pass under it when they realized the
bridge was being carried
downstream. They raced to the
eastern end of the bridge and
managed to jump a gap of four or
five feet to the safety of the shore.
While the bridge was out of
commission, a ferry service was
again set up, operated by George
Dawson and Gerry McBrien.
Later that year a new steel bridge
was erected without a central pier
which was in more danger when the
river was in flood. The abutments at
the shore and the supporting pier in
the stream were built by German
craftsman Joseph Naegle with the
stone quarried just south of Ball's
Bridge, according to Mr. Asquith.
The eastern abutment can still be
seen, well to the south of the new
bridge.
In 1898 the western span of the
bridge was replaced by a longer one
and by a longer one again in 1912.
It was a bridge that was built in the
days of the horse and buggy but the
arrival, first of cars, then larger
trucks, meant that by the early
1950s, the bridge was inadequate for
modern traffic demands. Looking at
the changes in transportation since
1954, it's perhaps remarkable that
the bridge still seems modern
today.
Tragedy
The man standing at left went down the river in a boat from
the Auburn bridge and was drowned. (Photo courtesy of Ruth Jandin)
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Have a great weekend
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Jack & Sylvia Nonkes 523-9456
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Welcome to Auburn's
150th
July 30 - August 1
The store with
old-style value
welcomes everyone
home this weekend!
Enjoy the festivities.
Huron Auburn Co-op Bay
CO-OPERATIVE INC Cty. Rd. #25, Auburn
526-7262