The Bridges of Maynard

Click on any photo to enlarge.

The oldest bridge in Maynard - as in the age of the current span - is closing in on its centennial year. 

White Pond Road bridge, completed 2007

The oldest site is a different story. A modern bridge, circa 2007, now carries White Pond Road across the Assabet River at the Stow:Maynard border. Documents in the archives of the Sudbury Historical Society record the first bridge at this site as built in 1716. The road over the original bridge - New Lancaster Road - connected Sudbury to old Stow (the area around what is now the Shaw's shopping plaza), and was part of the principal stagecoach route from Boston to Lancaster.

Around 1800 this was known as Dr. Wood's Bridge. Jonathan Wood, Jr., (1761-1822) was a doctor of medicine. His name became attached to the bridge because patients coming north from Sudbury had to cross it to see him. Years later it became known as Russell's Bridge. Haven't found out yet who Russell was.

Until 1816 this was the only bridge over the Assabet within what are now Maynard's borders. Other spots were shallow places where a horse and wagon could cross. High water made these fords temporarily impassable.

As seen in the table, four bridges pre-dated the arrival of Amory Maynard in 1846. In addition to Dr. Wood's Bridge, the Post Road (now Route 117) crossing was built in 1816, as was a bridge to Jewel's Mill (hence, now the Mill Street bridge). What is now the Waltham Street bridge was once known as the Paper Mill bridge, as it was adjacent to a paper mill built circa 1820.

Tobin Park footbridge over Assabet River

Today's bridge count is ten: seven road bridges and one footbridge spanning the Assabet, plus two over the canal which had been excavated as part of Amory's 1846 project to channel water from the new dam to the new millpond and through his new mill.

Missing from that count are three long-gone railroad bridges - one over the Assabet at the site of the Tobin Park footbridge, one over Florida Road and one over the canal, southwest of where Mill Street meets Route 117.


Also missing are a footbridge that used to span the Assabet under the railroad bridge and a wooden footbridge that predated the Florida Road bridge. 

Mill Street bridge during 2010 flood

Construction methods of the post-colonial era were simple - build stone piers at either end, span the gap with logs, plank the top. For a wider river, add a central stone pier. Repair often meant just replanking to replace the rotted boards. Stone and mortar bridges such as the Mill Street bridge cost more to construct, but were stronger and longer lasting. Stone was superseded by steel; in 1872 both Main Street and Walnut Street were newly spanned by steel bridges.   

The science of reinforcing concrete with steel rods made major advances in the early twentieth century, and is reflected in the spate of local bridges built in the 1920s. Unfortunately, these  bridges are nearing the end of  their expected life spans at about the same time.

BRIDGE NAME          FIRST    INTERIM     CURRENT    AGE   MATERIAL

White Pond Road         1716    1800, 1929       2007           6      Reinforced concrete

Route 117                    1816     ????              1922          91     Reinforced concrete

Mill Street                    1816     ????              1922          91     Mortar and stone

Florida Road                1915     -----                1915          98     Reinforced concrete

Tobin Park (foot)           1989     -----                1989          24     Wood

Main Street                  1849     1872, 1901    1922           91     Reinforced concrete

Walnut Street               1865     1872             1922           91     Reinforced concrete

Waltham Street            1840     1928              2013            0     Reinforced concrete

Route 117 (canal)         1847     -----                1941          72     Reinforced concrete

Sudbury Road (canal)   1855     1915, 1955      2002          11     Reinforced concrete

Florida Road Bridge

The Waltham Street bridge had a serious case of the concrete crumbles before the current replacement project began, which brings us back to the oldest existing bridge - Florida Road.

This once-handsome bridge is in disrepair. It also has narrow lanes and poor sight-lines. However, it is not yet scheduled for replacement. The next bridge in the Massachusetts Department of Transportation queue is the Main Street Bridge, replacement tentatively planned to start in 2017.