Spanning the Falls

Spanning the Falls. Keeping Commerce Moving. , Middlebury Falls was a great source of power, but it was also an impediment to transportation, preventing the movement of goods and customers. The first Middlebury settlers could only cross the Creek on "Hop" Johnson's ferry. In 1787, mill owner Daniel Foote built the first wooden bridge over Otter Creek, approximately where the bridge is today. Wooden bridges wore out quickly on this busy spot, and the town had to rebuild its primary bridge six times over the course of the nineteenth century. A massive fire burned much of downtown Middlebury in November 1891, including the bridge., ( photo captions ) , (upper image) , Main Street Bridge, 1880s , The commercial and industrial life of the town depended upon a reliable bridge over Middlebury Falls. Wooden bridges, like this one, had to be frequently rebuilt due to rotting and fire. This bridge burned in the fire of 1891. , Collection of the Henry Sheldon Museum of Natural History, Middlebury, Vermont., (lower image) , Building the Battell Bridge, 1893 , Local philanthropist Joseph Battell demanded that the new bridge be built in stone, offering to pay half of the cost himself. This photo shows the building of the wooden humps that would support the stone arches. The elegant stone 'Battell Bridge' you see today was opened in 1893, at a time when the Creek's industrial importance was being supplanted by newer power sources. What had been functional became beautiful, so people could again enjoy the natural grandeur of Middlebury Falls and the Otter Creek. , Collection of the Henry Sheldon Museum of Natural History, Middlebury, Vermont.