Earlier Bridges
Crossed River

Confusion abounds as to when, how many, and what types of bridges were built on the Third Branch in Randolph. The 1867 bridge indicated in last week's Herald was certainly not the first.

Citing several Randolph historians: Wes Herwig indicates that a bridge was built in 1846 at a cost of $600. The second covered bridge was removed in 1924.

Harry Cooley says that an open bridge across the Third Branch was built near the dam by Timothy Edson in 1820. (Leigh Wright states that the first covered bridge over the Branch was "carried away" by the flood waters of 1830. This bridge was replaced by an open one and in 1846 the town appropriated $600.00 for the second bridge. (consistent with Herwig on that)

However, way back in 1798 there is a primary source. In the Randolph Town Records, Seth Chase sells a parcel of his forty acres north of the bridge, near his grist mill to Dan Parker and Abner Weston. In describing the location, there is mention of "the bridge". There is no description of it, but that reference can lead one to accept that there was a bridge built early on.

Further, the Braintree-Randolph-Bethel road, along the Third Branch was built around 1788. Though the span of the river was much narrower than now, reason tells us that they did not "ford" the waters as this was a main thoroughfare, so some sort of bridge would have been built around 1788.

Bringing us back up to the present: the bridge now being replaced was built after the 1927 Flood, which destroyed the very similar looking bridge, not quite completed, after the 1925 flood.

Harriet Chase

Randolph