Name/Title
The Old Woodbridge BridgeCataloged By
Adam KitchenPublication Details
Publication Type
NewspaperAuthor
Carl Eike, Jr.Publisher
Potomac NewsDate Published
Jun 22, 1979Transcription
Transcription
The old Woodbridge bridge
[Potomac News, 6/22/1979]
To the Editor:
A lady came to my house the other day
and said her organization would like to
get the history of the old highway bridge
on No. 1 highway at Woodbridge. Me
being the oldest man in this end of the
county she thought I could help. Me
being nearly 82 years old I know a little
bit about this bridge. I fished under it
when I was big enough to put a worm on
my fishhook. In 1915 the present railroad
bridge was built and the old one was
abandoned. I guarded the new railroad
bridge during the First World War in
1917 and again in 1922 during the railroad
strike. I worked at night and always
walked this old bridge because it was
safer and I could see the railroad bridge
better. Them days the highway came
down Old Telegraph Road to Pohick
Church; turned right by the Lorton
Reformatory through Occoquan up
Davis Ford Road to Agneville turned left
on Old Telegraph Road to Valley Camp.
When this was a railroad bridge it only
had one railroad track on it. There was
what was called Telegraph Towers one
one each end of the bridge. When trains
were coming near the bridge they would
call the tower to see if everything was
clear. The operator in the tower could
throw the side tracks so the closest train
could get on the bridge. After the train
was across he would throw the tracks
back. People that had to walk the bridge
to get from one side of the river to the
other would stop at the towers and find
out when it was safe to walk across.
When I went to school five or six school
children crossed it to Woodbridge
School. There was an old man named
Pap Allen who lived in what is called
Lazy Susan now. He would cross that
bridge every week pushing a big
wheelbarrow loaded with vegetables,
etc.
Nobody ever got hurt walking this
bridge. There were three or four stalls
that you could get in if the train caught
you on the bridge.
In the early 1926 the state took this old
bridge over. We put a floor on it out of
2x3 or 2x4 edgeways and took the guard
rails off and widened it and cars came
through Colchester from Pohick Church
and crossed into Woodbridge, went down
East Street up over the Marumsco
Shopping Center through Edgar
Thompson's Farm and Rippon Lodge to
Valley Camp. I worked on both bridges.
If you ladies want more information see
George Washington. I won't have many
more articles as I can't compose, write
or spell any more. I was not even able to
raise a garden this year.
All I raised was some of the best
mashed potatoes I ever tasted. I raised
them from a dish on the table with a
spoon to my mouth.
Carl Eike, Jr.
Woodbridge, Va.Transcriber
Adam KitchenLanguage
EnglishCreated By
lbpskydra94@gmail.comCreate Date
December 5, 2024Updated By
lbpskydra94@gmail.comUpdate Date
December 5, 2024