Hartford Toll Bridge (1818)

Photos

Published prior to 1923

BH Photo #416642

Map

Map Links

Description

A covered bridge with two roadways separated by a third arch in the middle. Four feet were added to the height of the old piers for greater clearance in times of flood. Despite this precaution, in January of 1839, a storm of wind and rain raised the level of the river high enough that ice swept away one of the spans on the East Hartford side. Traffic was forced to travel north to Enfield in order to cross the river until repairs were made. In May, 1889, the bridge was bought by the State and the neighboring towns and made free to the public. On Friday evening,May 17, 1895, a blaze started near the East Hartford end and quickly engulfed the entire bridge, destroying it totally. A temporary wooden bridge was constructed upstream by the Berlin Iron Bridge Company and opened June 8, 1895.

Facts

Overview: Lost Burr arch through truss bridge connecting the towns of Hartford and East Hartford.
Location: Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut
Status: Destroyed by fire
History: Built 1818; Destroyed by fire 1895; replaced
Design: Burr arch-truss
Also called: Hartford Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude: +41.76957, -72.66560 (decimal degrees)
41°46'10" N, 72°39'56" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 18/694031/4626826 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:: Hartford North
Inventory number: BH 80157 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Update Log

May 15, 2021: New photos from Chester Gehman
March 13, 2020: New photos from Chester Gehman
January 19, 2018: Added by Dave King

Related Bridges

Hartford Toll Bridge (1810) (Predecessor)
Hartford Bridge (1895) (Successor)

Sources

Dave King - DKinghawkfan [at] hotmail [dot] com
Chester Gehman - gehmanc2000 [at] yahoo [dot] com