2005 UPDATE #2

October 2005

By Allan King Sloan

In October, I had a chance to visit New York City for a meeting with Jay Shockley of the Landmarks Preservation Commission who had done the research for the designation of the University Heights Bridge and others for the Commission. In addition to providing his report on this most interesting swing bridge, he found an article in the New York Times archives dated February 6, 1892 reporting on a plan to incorporate a company organized by Zenas King to build bridges across the East and Harlem Rivers. This was a new find, and a brief description of this plan is described in this update. The full article can be found in the New York Times archives for the date February 6, 1892 under the headline “More Big Bridge Schemes”. 

In addition I was able to take some photographs of three bridges in which the King Bridge Company had a role in the construction; the University Heights Bridge across the Harlem River, the Manhasset Viaduct of the Long Island Railroad, and “Old Nan” the 1907 railroad bascule bridge across the Niantic River in Connecticut. These are included in this update.

 Also included is a note on the Quarry Bridge in Marshall County, Iowa, which we neglected to include in our earlier updates, with apologies to John Fleming who had first sent us a picture of the bridge back in 2003.

The New Sections are: