Draw Bridge at New Bridge
About this property
The bridge at New Bridge Landing, New Jersey was built in 1888 to replace an earlier wooden one, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 5, 1989. According to historian Kevin Wright, the extant iron swing bridge at New Bridge Landing occupies the site of a series of wooden drawbridges that have spanned the narrows of the Hackensack River at New Bridge since 1745. Until 1790, this was the first river crossing above Newark Bay and so carried overland traffic between Manhattan and the interior of North America. The bridge became vitally important during the American Revolution and was crossed by General George Washington at the head of the retreating garrison of Fort Lee on November 20, 1776, earning its appellation as the Bridge That Saved A Nation. Hills on either side of New Bridge were fortified during the war to defend this strategic crossing and stone houses flanking the bridge served as forts, battleground, encampment ground and military headquarters in every year of the conflict. New Bridge was literally, "the crossroads of the American Revolution," having supposedly survived more of the war than any other spot in America. Bridge Contracts: New Bridge Draw — Smith Bridge Co., $4,170; Penn. $4,390; Berlin, $4,287; Dean & Westbrook, $4,330; Variety, $4,390; Columbia, $4,345; Pittsburg, $4,467; King Iron, $3,990 — King Iron awarded contract. Bids for stone work — Joseph Stagg, $3,994; S. H. Vanderbeck, $4,324. Contract to Mr. Stagg. Joseph W. Stagg, House Mover and Bridge Builder, resided in the Highland section of Englewood. In the final week of August 1888, Joseph Stagg commenced tearing down the bridge at New Bridge and began laying stone for the abutments. By the close of November 1888, the people of New Bridge were indignant. The old bridge had been torn down about August first and although contractor Joseph Stagg had completed his portion of the contract, no attempt had been made on the part of the new contractors to do their work and open the highway. A fire at their Cleveland foundry reportedly delayed the King Iron Bridge Company from completing its manufacture of bridge parts (perhaps explaining why the trusses bear the imprint of "Phoenix Iron"). The new iron swing bridge at New Bridge was finally opened on Monday, February 4, 1889. At their monthly meeting on that same date, the Board of Chosen Freeholders were presented a bill for $100 in favor of Joseph Stagg for building a temporary foot-bridge across the Hackensack River at Cherry Hill, which apparently served the citizens of New Bridge during the six months that they waited for the iron bridge to be installed. On March 2, 1889, Nicholas B. Demarest completed the work of filling in the approaches to the new span across the river at New Bridge. In June 1891, the Freeholders authorized payment of the following bridge-keepers: at Old Bridge, Bloomer Brothers, $20; at New Bridge, Abraham Leggett, $60. On August 15, 1892, according to newspaper reports, "a quartet of Hackensack youth with more or less “tanglefoot” [cheap whiskey] on board, did considerable mischief at Cherry Hill and New Bridge," placing the key to the drawbridge in position, thus endangering travel over the draw. A wooden sidewalk was built on the north side of the bridge in 1900.
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Draw Bridge at New Bridge listed on the National Register?
Draw Bridge at New Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 4, 1989.
What type of historic resource is Draw Bridge at New Bridge?
Draw Bridge at New Bridge is classified as a structure in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Draw Bridge at New Bridge?
The period of significance for Draw Bridge at New Bridge is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Draw Bridge at New Bridge?
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