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ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
Cady Street Bridge
First
Constructed in 1874
1865
02 09 REPAIRS NECESSARY
The Mayor called a meeting at the
request of the Committee on Streets and Bridges, repairs being necessary on Cady
Street to a larger extent than said Committee would order to be made without
the consent of the Council. Alderman
Prentiss moved to authorize the Committee of Streets and Bridges to cause all
necessary repairs on Cady Street to be done without delay and report the cost
thereof after completion. Motion
carried. WD
04 06 REPAIRS NECESSARY
Alderman Moak, Chairman of the
Committee on Streets and Bridges, reported to allow the accounts of A.
Bornschein, $105 for repairing Cady Street bridge, $15.75 for replanking sidewalks on Main Street bridge. Clerk directed to
issue orders for the amounts on the city general fund. Common Council Proceedings. WD
1872
12 04 NEW CADY STREET BRIDGE PROPOSED
The propriety has been suggested to us of building a bridge across
the river at Cady Street, for the use of the city while the new Main Street
bridge is being erected. In building a
bridge at the point mentioned it was thought the city might get consider able
assistance from individual sources that could not be obtained if this site was
not selected. During the winter would be
a good time to get the piers down. Watertown Republican, 12 04 1872 [Cady
St bridge constructed in 1874-75]
PRE
1874 THERE
WAS NO BRIDGE / conflicts with 1865 entries
Click to enlarge
View, pre 1874, from Main Street Bridge, of Cady Street before
bridge was constructed in 1874
12 31 VIEW SOUTH
FROM BRIDGE
The Iron
Bridge, known as the Cady Street bridge, is now in course of construction,
which is all right, and no one is opposed to have a
passage over Rock River at that point.
But it seems the city, or rather the sapient Committee on Streets and
Bridges, have got themselves in something of a scrap. We are told the contractors for building the
bridge insisted on the city furnishing the measurements from abutment to pier,
and from pier to pier on each span. The
committee on Streets and Bridges took this job, which they never ought to have
done, but to have compelled the contractors to make their own measurement, as
is usually the case. The committee made
the measurement, and at the same time made a mistake of some six feet as to the
length of one of the arches. The
consequence is that in making the castings, the east arch projects some six
feet beyond the abutment, and cannot be fastened on it
and made secure and permanent as it should be.
Here
is a pretty kettle of fish - the old story of meddling and muddling whatever a
set of stupid ignoramuses undertake. We
should like to know how long the upright, fair-minded men of this city purpose
[propose] to submit to this chronic kind of folly before they awake to the
necessity of taking public affairs into their own hands, as they can do any
moment when they see fit to arouse themselves to the earnest efforts
imperatively demanded by the crisis. WD
1886
Cady
St Bridge and Rock River, view from Main St Bridge, looking north, 1886.
1890
12 19 DRUNKEN FOOL
FALLS FROM BRIDGE
The
intoxicated individual who fell from the Cady Street bridge onto the ice last
Wednesday night and made night hideous by his yells for nearly an hour, will
probably not fare so well next time. It
was a fortunate thing for him that the ice was strong enough to aid in
preventing him from drowning. As it was,
he broke through and got a good ducking, and but for timely assistance he would
have drowned. It’s whiskey and not water
he was looking for. It's too bad a man
can make such a fool of himself.
c1895
View north, from Main St bridge, c1895
1900
10 26 UNSAFE AND
LIABLE TO FALL AT ANY TIME
The Cady
Street bridge has been closed to traffic by order of
the Board of Public Works. It was
recently inspected by an expert who declared it unsafe and liable to fall at
any time, the braces and supports being in poor condition. The council is considering the matter of
giving it a thorough repairing or the building of a
new bridge. WG
1901
02 06 KUNERT
MANUFACTURING TO BUILD NEW BRIDGE
The
material for the new Cady bridge is being received by the E. Kunert
Manufacturing company and work will begin shortly. The contract calls for the completion of the
structure by April 20. WR
05 01 CONSTRUCTION
OF NEW CADY STREET BRIDGE
On
Friday the A. Kunert Manufacturing Company began the construction of the new
Cady Street bridge. The structure will
consist of six spans, each fifty-seven feet long and weighing six tons apiece. It is expected to have the bridge completed
by June 1. WR
06 14 NEW CADY STREET BRIDGE
Last
Monday the Board of Public Works inspected and accepted the new Cady Street
bridge just erected by the Kunert Manufacturing Co.,
and on Tuesday afternoon it was opened to traffic. The bridge is a first-class one, and reflects much credit on our home institution. It is built entirely of iron, excepting the
paved roadway and sidewalks. The work
was under the personal supervision of our fellow-citizen,
A. F. Baumann, one of the best-posted bridgemen in the state and a member of
the Kunert Co. He scrupulously looked
after every detail. The result is a
first-class job. It is a three-span
steel bridge, 18 feet wide, and cost $6000.
WG
1905
FLOOD OF 1905
c.1905
View
to the north from top of Fuermann brewery of iron
bridge built in 1901
S. M. Eaton ice house with chute for
harvesting ice from the river
08 28 BRIDGE RAILING REPURPOSED
A portion of the old Cady Street bridge
railing, which was salvaged when that structure was demolished, has been set up
as a rail on the west side of Main Street bridge. It replaces a wooden railing which had been
put there to fill in the gap when the old shoe repair shop which was last
occupied by George Keller was torn down.
c.1940
undated image
2023
09 20 UPGRADE OF
Prior serving as detour route
during 2024 reconstruction of Main Street Bridge
History of Watertown,
Wisconsin