It’s Wayback Wednesday, sponsored by Jamie Lockwood, broker/owner of Sutton Group Muskoka Realty!
Huntsville’s ‘new’ swing bridge was constructed in 1898.
The Department of Public Works notified the citizens of Huntsville in 1888 that it would be reconstructing the bridge over the Muskoka River. Ratepayers first chose the least expensive option – a fixed bridge – but changed their minds a month later. The bridge was ready in time for the 1889 navigation season, with Joseph Hopkins hired to swing, clean and care for the bridge. His wage: $60 per year.
In 1902, the bridge was replaced with a new 20-foot-wide steel version, wide enough to accommodate two teams. The province assumed responsibility for it in June 1904.
By 1931 it had been deemed difficult to operate and unsafe for heavy traffic, and the bridge was replaced for the third and final time in 1938. The new bridge was 30-feet wide with a sidewalk on either side and due to its size was electrically operated. Steamships stopped travelling the river in 1958 and the swinging mechanism on the bridge was later dismantled.
This wasn’t Huntsville’s first bridge. In 1870, George Hunt, the town’s namesake, received permission to extend the Muskoka Road to build a winter road to Huntsville. His crews started building the bridge over the Muskoka River in June 1871, requiring the construction of three piers in the river to support the bridge. Hunt then began petitioning the provincial government to extend the Muskoka Road further to the northeast to meet the then-Bobcaygeon Road near present-day Dwight.
(Photo courtesy of Glen Duffield, from the 1967 Old Home Week centennial souvenir program. Details from Huntsville: With Spirit and Resolve)
See more Wayback Wednesday photos here.
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