17th Century | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century
This was the second bridge built in town, as far as records furnish evidence. It was called “the New Bridge” in 1725 and was completed about this time to accommodate those living in the settlement at Beech Ridge on the southwest side. The common name for it was “The Swing Bridge.” It was carried away by a spring flood in 1811, then rebuilt and has continued, in one form or another, since then, the last reconstruction being finished in 1930 under the supervision of A. W. Gowen, the civil engineer who prepared the plans for the new bridge. In the “old days,” this was a busy place where schooners docked to load wood and other produce for Boston and coastwise traffic.