A Tale of Three Bridges
The bridge to Annapolis has always been a key part of Eastport life.
The first wooden bridge, built in 1868, connected here at the end of Fourth Street. It served pedestrians and horse-drawn wagons. Forty years later, a larger steel bridge was built in the same location for cars and trucks. The bridge tender lived on the bridge and opened the pivoting central span by hand-crank whenever a boat needed to pass through. On hot days, the steel expanded, preventing the span from closing properly until a fire truck was called to hose it down with cold water.
The drawbridge you see today, connecting with Sixth Street two blocks to your left, was built in 1947 with heavy weights to counter-balance the center spans. If you hear a horn, watch how the bridge opens to let a sailboat through.
Text with upper left photo: Before bridges were built, Eastporters traveled to and from Annapolis by ferry to avoid the three-mile detour around the end of Spa Creek.
Marker is on Fourth Street 0 miles north of Severn Avenue when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
