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Clear Fork
of the Brazos River
Suspension Bridge
by John
Troesser |
| One
of the oldest suspension bridges in Texas, this bridge was requested
by residents of Young, Shakleford and Throckmorton counties who wanted
(and needed) a crossing closer than the bridge at Fort Griffin. |
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Clear
Fork of the Brazos River
Suspension Bridge
Photo
courtesy Erik Whetstone |
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Another
view of the Clear Fork of the Brazos River
Suspension Bridge
Photo
courtesy Erik Whetstone |
The bidding was
opened on March 1st, 1896 and the contact was awarded to the Fluice-Moyers
Company of Weatherford. The span was to be 140 feet, suspended 40
feet above the river by stone piers.
The cost was approximately $4,500 and the bridge was "delivered" in
June of 1896. The only visible changes immediately apparent are the
piers being covered in concrete.
The bridge with additional details of its construction are included
in T. Lindsay Baker's Building the Lone Star, available (on demand)
from Texas A & M Press. Building the Lone Star was our source for
the above information. |
Photographer's
Note:
The Regency
suspension bridge information states that it's one of eight remaining
suspension bridges.
When I was out in Stephens county I came across one that is on a dirt
road. I had started on FM 2850 in Throckmorton, and because of my
map, expected it to dead end before it crossed the county line. The
dirt road ended up connecting to 283 in Shackelford county a couple
of miles south of Fort Griffin State Park. Looking at my maps, the
bridge is either over the Clear fork of the Brazos, Collins Creek
or it's over Foyle Creek. I didn't notice any markers for the creek,
and I didn't see any markers on the bridge, other than the condemned
sign that are posted at each end. I'm sure this was a bridge built
for access to Fort Griffin. I was just wondering if it was one of
the eight other bridges or if this would be number nine. - Erik
Whetstone, February 10, 2004 |
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