Name/Title
Old Town BridgeEntry/Object ID
ph-50-55-nDescription
Old Town Bridge
A bridge on this site in the early l640's that was used to connect the west side with the east side is reportedly the first frame bridge in Middlesex County. Later a Cart bridge on this is site proved of strategic importance during King Philip's War in driving the Indians from the east side and preventing re-entry.
During the Revolutionary War period, it was traversed by many soldiers. Pual Revere is known to have used this route in 1774 on a journey to the Continental Congress. In 1848, the Old Town Bridge was the first bridge in Wayland to be rebuilt in stone. After Hurricane Diane in 1955, Old Sudbury Road was re-routed and a new bridge was built nearby. In 1900 the 1848 the un-mortared bridge had been damaged by floods and was in very bad repair. In 1901, the Commissioners of Middlesex County rebuilt the bridge to the same dimensions and plan of the 1848 bridge but this time laid the stones in mortar.Collection
W. H. Folsom Shoebox CollectionAcquisition
Notes
(these were discovered in an old shoe box in the closet off the Stone Room, next to Willie’s shed in 1983)Made/Created
Artist
Folsom, Wallace HerbertLexicon
Search Terms
Folsom, Wallace Herbert, (1884 - 1954) –- Photographer Sudbury River -- Wayland, (Mass.) "Old town bridge" -- Wayland, (Mass.) -- 1930 Four arch bridge -- Wayland, (Mass.)Dimensions
Height
2-1/4 inWidth
3-1/4 inGeneral Notes
Note
[Total 761 negatives from original shoebox of Folsom negatives]