Local History: Downtown's 1869 Bridge

The copy seen here of the 1764 Thomas Ball map is one of the earliest views we have of Millburn.

It shows a half a dozen saw mills, grist mills, forges, and the homes of most of the early settlers. The roads have been identified here with their later, modern names—Millburn Avenue, Old Short Hills Road, Parsonage Hill Road, Hobart Avenue and White Oak Ridge Road.

Millburn Avenue is simply referred to as "to New Ark" and Morris Turnpike as the road from Morristown to Springfield to Elizabethtown. The bridge now in Millburn center was labeled Egbeson's Bridge and as can be seen in the 1860 painting of Millburn's center, that bridge was a wooden bridge over the "Raw=way" River.

According to the state Department of Transportation report on historic bridges "Historically, a span has crossed this location since before the Revoluton" and during the American Revolution the wooden Egbeson's Bridge "was a strategic site during the 1780 Battle of Springfield."

The bridge was apparently replaced with the present stone bridge in 1869 and the report adds, "The 1869 span is significant because it is the longest multi-span and one of the oldest stone arch bridges in the county and it retains much of its styling."

The later bridge photo here is dated 1949 and provides a view of the bridge after the bank was built up on the right side to accommodate the building that then housed Longeran's and most recently housed Photography by Stieve. As can be seen in the photo, provision was made to avoid obstructing the fourth arch to mitigate the impact upon potential flood conditions. 

According to the , "The project to demolish and rebuild the bridge over the West Branch of the Rahway River is expected to start on Monday and last six to eight months." The bridge that once carried cannons, horses, cattle and the Battle of Springfield over the Rahway will be replaced by a new bridge that will carry our cars and trucks over the river that has once powered the mills that gave Millburn its name.