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Providence, Rhode Island, circa 1906. "Crawford Street bridge." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
"when they moved the Providence River"
Uhm, how did they do that? And why.
I learned something from this. I thought Sic Transit Gloria Mundi meant Gloria threw up on the bus last Monday.
Judging by her stride the woman on the bridge is in an awful hurry to get somewhere.
Well at least one building still survives from the ones in the picture
Or at least watching Providence go by.
I've been trying to phone Alexander Brothers, but the operator said the circuits are busy. There must not be enough phone lines.
The old Crawford Street Bridge, the one that had the distinction as being the world's widest, is no longer there. It was replaced when they moved the Providence River around in the late '80s and early '90s.
The current bridge rests on some of the piers that once held up the old one. It's now the bridge south of the College Street Bridge. On Google, I think they call it South Water Street. It's directly across from Hemmenway's Seafood Restaurant.
The bridge has since been renamed for one of the people behind the design of the new city layout. I think it technically bring Route 44 over the river.
Where Route 6 crosses is actually part of Rt 195, and THAT bridge has been relocated to the furthest southern crossing on the new I-Way bridge. The bridge that shows Rt. 6 on Google Maps is now closed and being taken down.
Fruit, butter, cheese, eggs, tea and coffee.
Most of the buildings seem in the Shorpy view are long gone. Mostly to parking lots. The tall whitish building on the left is still there, along Memorial Blvd. Bing Maps tells me it's now the location of Amica Mutual Insurance. The bridge has been replaced with a pair of hump-backed spans.
Modern photo (found online) by "peplance"
I think that guy on the left end of the bridge is scratching his back on the rail spears. I love that cast iron facade on the Cooper & Sisson building. That era of buildings is quickly disappearing.
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