Calvin_Coolidge_Memorial_Bridge.pdf
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions 3/10 for completing this form. FORM F − STRUCTURE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Photograph Locus Map Please see attached continuation sheets. Recorded by: Bonnie Parsons Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Date (month /year): March, 2011 Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number 19B Easthampton NTH.143 Town/City: Northampton and Hadley Place (neighborhood or village): Address or
Location: Spanning the Connecticut River Name: Calvin Coolidge Memorial Bridge Ownership: Public Private Type of Structure (check one): ___ boat or ship ___ canal ___ carousel ___ dam
___ fort ___ gate ___ kiln ___ lighthouse ___ pound ___ powderhouse ___ street ___ tower ___ tunnel ___ wall ___ windmill __x___bridge ___other (specify) Date of Construction: 1939 Source:
Official Memorial Book Architect, Engineer or Designer: Maurice Reidy of Desmond & Lord, Consulting Architects Boston; W & L Engineering Company. Consulting Engineers Materials: concrete,
steel Alterations (with dates): Highway Curbs Replaced, 1948, Rehabilitated, 2003 Condition: good Moved: no yes Date: Acreage: Not Applicable Setting: The bridge crosses the Connecticut
River connecting towns of Northampton and Hadley in an east-west direction.
INVENTORY FORMF CONTINUATION SHEET NORTHAMPTON BRIDGE STREET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet
1 NTH.143 Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. This bridge is on the National Register as part of the Hadley Center Historic District. If checked, you
must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form. Use as much space as necessary to complete the following entries, allowing text to flow onto additional continuation
sheets. DESIGN ASSESSMENT Describe important design features and evaluate in terms of other structures within the community. The Calvin Coolidge Memorial Bridge is a steel and concrete
Warren, continuous deck, single intersection, truss bridge that is 1,441 feet long and 50.8 feet wide. It is a five-span bridge resting on four concrete piers in the Connecticut River
and anchored by abutments and approach walls at each end. As a Warren truss bridge the Coolidge Bridge Bridge has parallel chords between which are trusses arranged in equilateral triangles,
and in this case they are reinforced by a vertical member for each triangular truss. The road bed is carried by the upper chord. The bridge approaches on both banks are composed of granite-faced
abutments and approach walls scored into blocks, and each abutment is topped by two granite pylons, one at each side. The pylons, abutments and steel railings provide the ornament of
the bridge that is visible to those crossing it; the Warren trusses are visible to those on the river. The pylons are scored granite blocks that rise from the land to tower over the
bridge deck as four rectangular, battered monuments with flat-topped, stepped back upper stages of carved blocks ornamented with rows of scallop-shaped stones. Each corner of the pylon
is carved with an Art Deco style eagle folding around its right angle. “Calvin Coolidge Memorial Bridge” is carved into bands on the road side of the pylons near their rooflines. In
two of the pylons, the northwest and southeast, recessed bronze doors open to small rooms within the monuments. Bronze memorial plaques dedicated to Calvin Coolidge are mounted on the
northeast and southwest pylons. In a 2003 bridge-widening, the pylons were made narrower to accommodate an extra lane for traffic on the deck, so the rooms are now narrower by approximately
six feet so the rooms may have been largely reduced. Connecting the pylons across the bridge at each side of the roadway are 3 ½ feet high, ornamental steel railings beneath solid banisters,
their steelwork rails formed into curved and geometric shapes. Light posts were originally attached to the railings with sodium fixtures but have been replaced by contemporary light
fixtures. A pedestrian sidewalk is located on the north side of the bridge. HISTORICAL NARRATIVE Explain the history of the structure and how it relates to the development of the community.
From the Forms B and F of 1980 and 1986 and the Massachusetts Historic Bridge Inventory Form and Recommendation, “The Calvin Coolidge Memorial Bridge was dedicated Oct. 12, 1939. Constructed
of steel, the bridge rests on two concrete abutments and four concrete river piers. The architects were Desmond and Lord, of Boston, while Maurice Reidy and the W. & L. Engineering Co.,
also of Boston, served as consulting engineers. Builder was T. Stuart and Son Company. Northampton and Hadley were two of the earliest towns in western Massachusetts, and were first
joined by ferry across the Connecticut River in 1658. During 1803 a company was incorporated for the purpose of constructing a bridge. This first bridge was built in 1808 and was used
for nine years. It was a wooden toll bridge. The next bridge was built from plans of Captain Isaac Damon, the well-known Northampton bridge builder and architect. This bridge was destroyed
in 1824 by flood waters. In 1826 a new (third) covered bridge was built, under a joint contract with Captain Isaac Damon and Ithiel Towne. This bridge remained in use until 1877, when
a tornado lifted it from the piers and dropped it into the water. The fourth bridge was an iron bridge, built in 1877 by the Canton Wrought Iron Bridge Co. of Ohio. During the early
years of this century there was talk of a new bridge, but it wasn’t until after the disastrous flood of 1936 that much was done about it as the Canton Wrought Iron Bridge was severely
damaged. The fifth bridge, the Coolidge Bridge, was funded under the Hayden Cartwright Act, one of the numerous Federal aid programs designed to provide construction jobs during the
Depression. The result was the present bridge, a memorial to Calvin Coolidge, ‘Northampton’s most notable contribution to U. S. history’. A plaque at the entrance to the bridge sums
up his achievements. 1872-1933
INVENTORY FORMF CONTINUATION SHEET NORTHAMPTON BRIDGE STREET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet
2 NTH.143 Calvin Coolidge 1923-1929 Thirtieth President of the United States 1921-1928 Governor of Massachusetts 1919-1920 Lt. Governor of Massachusetts 1916-1918 President of the Massachusetts
Senate 1914-1915 Massachusetts State Senator 1912-1915 Mayor of Northampton 1910-1911 Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives 1907-1908 Born in Plymouth, Vermont July 4th
1872 Died in Northampton Massachusetts January 5th 1933 A grateful State and Nation have erected this bridge in commemoration of his distinguished services. 1939” The New York Times
report on the event noted that 40,000 persons attended the dedication of the bridge, minus both the widow and son of the President who had other commitments. Governor Saltonstall led
the dedication and the parade at the head of the Second Battalion, 104th Infantry. The Commissioner of Public Works, John W. Beal, presented the bridge to Hampshire County and it was
accepted by John R. Callahan Jr., City Commissioner. A correction to the above quoted forms is that Maurice Reidy was with Desmond and Lord, Architects, not W & L Engineering Company.
According to the Massachusetts Historic Bridge Inventory completed by Steve Roper in 1986,…” this bridge is tied with the Turners Falls Bridge and the Sunderland Bridge as the 11th oldest
of 18 single-intersection Warren deck truss bridges in the MDPW data base. The use of the long-span continuous truss for the three center spans makes the bridge more interesting technologically
than the comparable Sunderland Bridge’ the structurally similar Turner’s Falls Bridge, though, with its deepened truss webs over the river piers and its much greater span lengths, is
even more impressive than the Coolidge Memorial Bridge.” BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES New York Times, October 13, 1939, “Northampton Opens Coolidge Bridge”. Beers, F. W. County Atlas
of Hampshire Massachusetts, New York, 1873. Hales, John G. Plan of the Town or Northampton in the County of Hampshire, 1831. Miller, D. L. Atlas of the City of Northampton and Town of
Easthampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, 1895. Walker, George H. and Company. Atlas of Northampton City, Massachusetts, Boston, 1884. Walling, Henry F. Map of Hampshire
County, Massachusetts, New York, 1860. Farmer, Greg. Massachusetts Historical Commission Form F (Structure), April, 1986. Lonergan, Edward. Massachusetts Historical Commission Form B
. Massachusetts Department of Public Works, Massachusetts Historic Bridge Inventory Form and Recommendation for National Register Eligibility , Completed by S.J Roper, MDPW, Historic
Bridges Specialist November 24, 1986 (with Field Surveys Completed May 31, 1985 and September 17, 1985,) Massachusetts Historical Commission Determination of Eligibility (MHC Opinion),
W.Smith, March 23, 1987,
INVENTORY FORMF CONTINUATION SHEET NORTHAMPTON BRIDGE STREET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet
3 NTH.143
INVENTORY FORMF CONTINUATION SHEET NORTHAMPTON BRIDGE STREET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet
4 NTH.143