Bridges Across the Black
In the years 1808-06,
The Turnpike Company
constructed the St. Lawrence Turnpike in 1812-13; by adding another avenue to
northern settlements, made a bridge necessary to cross the
Russell Atwater and his associates, interested in St.
Lawrence settlements, were authorized by the Turnpike Company to build a toll
bridge over the
Section of 1855
map
The bridge, to be completed by
November 1813, was planned and built for the Turnpike Company by
The toll bridge was maintained
until 1829. On March 28 of that
year the structure was found to be decayed, it was necessary to rebuild it. Early in the year an attempt was made to
secure by public subscription funds to build a free bridge. A meeting was called and the old piers
were purchased for $500.
About the same time, those
interested in factories on islands in the lower part of the village (the most
active being Joseph C. Budd) started a project to construct a bridge connecting
the islands. Mr. LeRay came to the
assistance and five bridges, going from island to island, secured a
crossing. The bridges were damaged
by the flood of the next spring, but were repaired. More damage was inflicted the following
spring, and the structures soon fell into decay.
There were
later island bridges – this one goes to
Meanwhile, those working for a
free bridge above the islands gained influence and money. Dr. Eli West championed the cause and in
the summer of 1829 the crossing was affected at a cost of $1,600. That bridge, built by H. G. Potter,
lasted 11 years.
When, in 1840, it was deemed
necessary to rebuild the bridge, a meeting of the Towns of Wilna and Champion
was called. The outcome was an act
passed in May authorizing loans from school funds- $2,500, Town of
With those funds, a man named
Spaulding, at a cost of $5,000, constructed a covered bridge. It lasted until 1853 when a “substantial
bridge was built by the State”. In
October of 1860 this bridge broke down under the weight of a large herd of
cattle. Some of them went down with
the broken span and were killed or injured.
On the morning of Tuesday of
last week a drove of cattle passed through our village, and while attempting to
cross the bridge, over the
CRT
The bridge was repaired, but
one year later a Mr. Crumb, a well-known teamster, broke through the bridge
while crossing with a load of pig iron.
The iron slid out of the box and the horses swam ashore with the wagon
while the box floated downstream and lodged against one of the islands.
Mr. Crumb was rescued
unharmed.
On Wednesday last, two
stretches of the bridge over the Black River at Carthage broke, and two teams
which were then on the bridge, were precipitated into the river, and Mr. Samuel
Chadwick, about thirty-five years old, and a boy about ten years old, named
Henry Irwin, son of James Irwin, both of this village, lost their
lives. CRT
On
On
This is the bridge depicted in the sketch
of the
In
1872 the railroad was extended into
In
1896
In April of that year there was an article in the
CRT that the idea of constructing the new Carthage-West Carthage bridge might have to be put on hold in deference to a state
road from the Deer River Corners in
The next
bridge was finished in 1948 at a cost of $135,000 authorized by the state
legislature. Interesting
information in the November 1947 CRT describes moving the old state
bridge fifty feet upstream onto temporary piers while the new span was being
completed. The moving was completed
on a Friday morning when Hawes and Farrell, Inc of Oneida whose engineers were
in charge of the project, stated “vehicular traffic on Route 26 will open early
next week to light traffic although the detour {via Great Bend} will be
maintained until the new bridge is completed”. It was further reported that W. Carthage
deliveries presented a serious problem for most firms and that this was further
complicated by construction on Route 3 near Great Bend and the closing the first
week in November of the Castorland-Naumburg bridges to heavy loads.
The Tuscarora Construction Co,
Inc of Pulaski built the next bridge over a period of 18 months, in
1994-95. It was done on contract
with the New York DOT at a bid price of $4,059,689.75
A bridge was constructed on
“the bend” of the
In 1862 floods again destroy
the bridge along with drowning a boy who was on it. [Unsure whether this boy was actually
the victim of the 1807 disaster or another child – records aren’t clear].
Early picture of
In late
September of 1964, the bridge over the Black River and linking Route 3 with the
village of Deferiet Carthage Central School Great Bend
The bridge in Deferiet has been replaced
several times. This picture from
the
The view below shows the work
site from the
In 1950 the Watertown Daily
Times ran this picture along with an article that stated this bridge, built
in 1896 would be dismantled to make way for a new bridge that would cost an
estimated $100,000. The new
bridge, which had a steel floor roadway 24 feet wide (10 feet wider than the one
pictured below) was also 18 feet longer.
The bridge was opened to
traffic on
Section of 1888
panorama
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Information obtained from
articles by Helen B Walker in the