Hartford COUNTY · Transportation and preservation
Drake Hill Road Bridge: From River Crossing to Flower Bridge
An 1892 metal bridge over the Farmington River survived a change from road traffic to a public walking route cared for by volunteers.
Historical focus · 1892–1996; photographs from 2020
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The story in photographs
October 20, 2020 (photographer metadata)
Through the bridge portal, 2020
View along the wooden deck between metal trusses, with planted containers and people on the walkway.
Image credit & source
Jessicalarkin / Wikimedia Commons
CC BY-SA 4.0. Repository JPEG display copy; no cropping or reconstruction by this website.
Original source · Reuse terms
October 20, 2020 (photographer metadata)
The span above the Farmington River, 2020
View from river level showing the bridge’s trusses, understructure and autumn trees.
Image credit & source
Jessicalarkin / Wikimedia Commons
CC BY-SA 4.0. Repository JPEG display copy; no cropping or reconstruction by this website.
Original source · Reuse terms
THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTOGRAPHS
People, places, and change.
Financing a new crossing
Simsbury’s Drake Hill Road Bridge was erected in 1892 across the Farmington River, replacing an earlier timber bridge. Its National Register nomination records a project shaped by the practical problem of paying for public works. Selectmen sought a new crossing but encountered difficulty borrowing against the bridge alone. The town ultimately issued $10,000 in bonds backed by its broader finances. A piece of everyday transport infrastructure thus became part of the development of municipal borrowing. [1]
The structure behind the outline
The bridge is a pin-connected Parker through truss, measuring 183 feet across with an original roadway only twelve feet wide. Its upper edge rises in angled sections toward the center. The federal nomination identifies a mixture of wrought iron, cast iron and steel, supported on brownstone abutments. Engineer Buddington designed and supervised construction while subcontracting fabrication. These details place the span in a period when American bridge builders were experimenting with materials and connections as steel and riveted construction became more common. [1]
A road bridge gains another purpose
A new two-lane bridge opened nearby in 1992 and the old span closed to motor traffic. Restoration in 1995 adapted it for pedestrians and bicycles. In 1996 residents added flower boxes after visiting the flower bridge in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. The town-hosted history describes a transition from transportation project to a place maintained through local volunteer effort. Preservation retained the crossing while changing how people used it. [3]
A visible record of reuse
The 2020 photographs show the metal trusses, wooden deck and planted containers during the bridge’s later pedestrian life. The river-level view makes the length and supporting framework visible; the view through the portal shows how people move between the trusses. Neither is a photograph of the original 1892 roadway. Together they document the surviving structure and its adaptation more than a century after construction. [4] [5]
Sources & further reading (5)
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Building dates and photograph dates are recorded separately. Later photographs are identified in their captions; unknown exposure dates remain unknown. Follow each image’s credit and reuse terms.