GOODSPEED HISTORIES – Page 159 – New Jersey History and Genealogy

The Covered Bridge in the Automobile Age

April 29, 2011 By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Twp Tags: bridges, politics

This is the third installment of a short history of the last covered bridge in New Jersey. The first installment is here and the second one here, and addendum here.

SAGSE001Highways3151 — Green Sergeant Covered Bridge, before reconstruction

An unanticipated threat to the bridge arrived in the early 20th century when automobiles began to be widely used. Little damage could be done to such a solid structure by a horse and wagon. A car or truck, on the other hand, could do quite a lot.

For drivers, the biggest challenge was dealing with the single lane of traffic through the bridge. With so little sight distance, drivers found it necessary to stop and honk before entering the bridge. This practice was still being used in the mid 1950s when Helen Carl Maliszewski and Kay Sherman Larson were riding through the bridge with their parents.

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Sparky’s Roadhouse, continued

April 21, 2011 By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Twp Tags: alcohol, bridges, houses

After publishing my last post on the Covered Bridge, in which I described Eric Sloane’s encounter with a fellow who lived near the bridge named Sparky, I came across a drawing that was published many years ago in the Hunterdon Democrat, that shows the Gelvin house, the one-lane covered bridge, and the old Brown hatchery building.

Covered Bridge Tales

April 19, 2011 By Marfy Goodspeed in Delaware Twp, Opdycke, Sergeant Tags: "The Bridge", alcohol, bridges, mills

The Covered Bridge has been a landmark for quite a long time. Next year the bridge will be 140 years old—not bad for a bridge. It has had a lot of work done on it over the years, and some adaptations have been made to allow it to continue standing. I’ve been making adaptations to some of my articles as well. This second essay on the Covered Bridge is adapted from an article that first appeared in the Delaware Township newsletter, “The Bridge,” and from an article published in the Hunterdon Historical Newsletter, Fall 2003 issue.