05/21/2018
Here are some more interesting current pictures- by our friend Alex Bardow- that reveal an intriguing bit of old history- the old foundations of the original North Beacon Street bridge, which was an old wooden drawbridge dating to the era when the river was tidal. When the new (current) bridge was built in the early 1900's, it was on a slightly different alignment than the older bridge. I'm copying in full Alex's description of the photos........ and after his comments, I've included three of the photos from our collection that both show the old bridge, and the new one under construction........
"Back in March, I noticed that the Charles River was running low and I decided to explore a pile of rocks that I had noticed downstream of the North Beacon Street Bridge. Since we now have the plans for the former MDC bridges, I looked at them to see if, as I suspected, they were from the original, pre-1915 bridge.
I am attaching one of the plan sheets, which clearly show that one corner of the original bridge’s abutment and downstream wingwall protrude beyond the re-grading of the river banks that was done as part of the landscaping after the current bridge was built. This is the location of the rock pile.
I am also attaching four pictures that I took that March day. Unfortunately, the reflection of the sky in the water makes it difficult to see the stonework under the water in the pictures, but by walking out onto the rocks I could distinctly make out the stones that made up the face of the abutment and the wingwall below the water surface. In photo #4 you can make out the edge of one of the stones that made up the face of the abutment.
Also, as you can see, the line of the wingwall stones lines up with the Arsenal Gate that was located along the pre-1915 North Beacon Street, so this confirms that we are looking at the remains of the wooden bridge that was there before."