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Look Back: Big hopes for East Street Bridge

Historical newspaper excerpts from the Wood County Historical Society

Photo Provided This 1907 photo shows the south approach of the East Street Bridge. In later years the original steel framework as seen above, was replaced, or covered, with earth. The building of this bridge was a vital link for Parkersburg to Shattuck Park and the several industries that soon located along Camden Avenue in south Parkersburg. Construction of the bridge was spearheaded by Charles H. Shattuck and Johnson Newlon Camden.

Ground broken for construction of Little Kanawha bridge

Ground was broken today by the Brady Construction Company for the new bridge across the Little Kanawha River. The beginning of work was signalized by the discharge of Long Tom on Fort Boreman by Captain William Kirk. The boom of the cannon marked the beginning of a new era for Parkersburg. It conveyed the glad information that the long lethargy with which the city has been suffering is at last broken.

The building of the bridge will mean more for the city than the people now dream of. It will open up new territory for settlement, connect the two parts of town into a solid whole, furnish a large number of workingmen with easy means of transportation to and from their work, and give an impetus to all kinds of enterprise by proving conclusively that the leading men of this city, the men who understand its situation, and have their means invested in its property, have full faith in its future.

An excerpt from the Parkersburg State Journal

Sept. 21, 1906

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The excerpts that follow were taken from the book, “Fairground, Shattuck Park, 1906-1926” by Joann Wilson and Betty Mills:

April 25, 1907 — From present indications it is doubtful if the improvements on the South Side will be completed in time for holding a fair this fall. It is the opinion that it will be impossible to complete the proposed bridge across the Little Kanawha River at East Street in time for connecting up the extension of the Inter-Urban to that side of the river. Delays were due to right-of-ways, height of the bridge, but most of the delay was due to high water most of the winter.

Oct. 21, 1907 — Five carloads of steel for the new East Street Bridge arrived here Saturday. High water has hampered the building of the piers. About 150 Hungarians will be brought to Parkersburg for the work on the piers as most of this work is done in the water and the construction company having that portion of the contract have been unable to secure American laborers to do the work.

May 21, 1908 — The big, new bridge at East Street was opened for traffic this morning. The bridge is 800 feet long, the middle span being 300 feet. The crowning event connected with the completion of the vast enterprises on the south side of the Little Kanawha will be the opening of the extension of the street car line to the property of the West Virginia Fair Company (Shattuck Park).

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Bob Enoch is the president of the Wood County Historical Society. The group meets at 7p.m. on the last Monday of each month in the Summers Auditorium at the Wood County Public Library on Emerson Avenue. They do not meet in December. For more information, contact P.O. Box 565, Parkersburg, WV 26102

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