Wahoo's Preservation Alley-- Waltham, Mass. Gets on Board-- Da Missouri Bridge

I was calling this Cooter's Preservation Alley, but I'm now using Cooter for Cooter's History Thing. http://cootershistorything.blogspot.com.

I will be spinning this off at some point, but for now....

Last December 24th, I posted about how the town of Waltham, Massachusetts, wasn't doing as much as they should be to protect its historic sites. Well, I was very happy to see this article in the December 30th Daily News Tribune. "Historic neighborhood up for National Register honor" by Leslie Friday.

Waltham's Washington Park Subdivision is one of six statewide locations up for nomination to the National register of Historic Places by the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

The Washington Park subdivision between Walnut and Harvard streets was the vision of real estate developer Dustin Lancey in 1865. He was inspired by the Urban Parks Movement where buildings would be placed around a park. This area consists of mostly late-Victorian architecture, but there are also Queen Anne, Italianate, Gothic revival, stick, and Second Empre style homes.

The word "commuter" was first used here as rail lines reached Washington Street in 1940. Historically-appropriate street lights have been installed.

2. Residents in the southwest Missouri town of Powell are attempting to rescue an old ironclad trestle bridge.

The old one lane bridge over Big Sugar Creek was built sometime between 1912 and 1915 and has a three ton weight limit and a 7 foot clearance. Emergency vehicles use other routes rather than to cross it.

It's deteriorating condition and significant corrosion makes its replacement necessary. Supporters want to close it to vehicular traffic and turn it into a biking/walking trail, or move it.

Let's hope one of these things are done. Too often today, you can cross water and not know you're on a bridge. I liked it when a bridge looked like a bridge.

One More Creek to bridge. --Wahoo.