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| Photos
& Captions by Mel Brown |
| Photo 1. For
as long as I could remember while growing up on San
Antonio’s eastside and until the summer of 1981 this old New Braunfels Avenue
bridge stood over the large Southern Pacific railroad East Yard. It was replaced
by a modern concrete structure that carries twice as much vehicular traffic as
the old Phoenix Bridge did but has little architectural character. This photo
was shot just after the old bridge’s roadbed had been removed so offers a good
look at the historic wrought iron Phoenix Bridge. Originally this bridge was part
of a longer span built in 1887 that crossed the Atchafalaya Basin near Morgan
City, Louisiana. In 1910 it was disassembled there then re-erected on new Braunfels
Ave. by the S. P. Railway Co. because they planned to add many more tracks to
their expanding San Antonio East Yard and Shops. |
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Photo 2. This
second view offers a closer look at the concrete footings and Erector Set type
construction of the bridge built by the Phoenix Iron Works near Philadelphia,
Penn. The bridge was held together by huge bolts and nuts so could be taken apart
whenever necessary. Urban legend had it that the bridge was shipped to somewhere
in South America then put together a third time. We cannot document this but what
is fact is that it’s twin span still sits several blocks away on Hays Street and
also sits over the S. P. tracks. That bridge is being restored exclusively for
foot traffic as part of an urban renewal park project. A good look at the New
Braunfels St. bridge can be had by renting martial arts wizard Jackie Chan’s first
American made movie titled The Big Brawl aka Battle Creek Brawl(1980). Set in
1930s Chicago’s, it was actually filmed in San Antonio
of all places. An early scene features Jackie gymnastically swinging across the
bridge superstructure while his American girlfriend follows along underneath him
in an open top roadster. For old-time San Antonians there is also a fight scene
that was filmed at the Sunken Gardens Theater otherwise the city is mostly unrecognizable
behind the movie action.
Copyright
Mel Brown |
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