Gribblenation

  Nestled in the town of Simsbury, Connecticut is a rather unique bridge that crosses some 18 feet over the Farmington River . That bridge is the Old Drake Hill Flower Bridge. Built in 1892 by J.E. Buddington of New Haven, Connecticut, this old metal truss bridge is 183 feet in length and has served various types of transportation modes throughout its history. In fact, it is one of only three Parker through truss bridges that remain in the State of Connecticut. While people had crossed the Drake Hill Road bridge for decades, whether it be with a horse and buggy or a car, I'm not sure that people from earlier generations could have imagined the current chapter of this bridge's life. While a modern two lane bridge was opened just to the north of the Old Drake Hill Flower Bridge in 1992, the old bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Given its status as a historic bridge, the old bridge remained in use for pedestrians and bicycles. Then in 1995, th...

  Located in New Milford, Connecticut, Lovers Leap State Park is a 160 acre state park. The name Lovers Leap is based on a legend that involves starcrossed lovers; an unidentified white man and Lillinoah, a Native American princess who was the daughter of Pootatuck Indian Chief Waramaug, that chose to leap to their deaths. The park has a number of walking paths and are split into three sections. There are the Old Factory Trails, the Waramaug Loop, and the Hurd Estate Trails found around the park. Each section of the park has their own sights to see, including a castle, ruins and overlooks of Lake Lilinonah.  The historic iron bridge over the Housatonic River is frequently the main attraction. The Falls Bridge, which is an iron bridge built by the Berlin Iron Bridge Company of East Berlin, Connecticut, is a 173 foot lenticular truss bridge over the Housatonic River and was built in 1895. It is one of only a handful of iron truss bridges remaining in Connecticut. A similar ...

  One of the more unusual sights while traveling the highways and byways of eastern Connecticut is the Frog Bridge, which spans across the Willimantic River between downtown Willimantic and neighboring Windham . Known officially as the Thread City Crossing and South Street, the Frog Bridge is 476 feet in length and connects CT 32 on the north side of the river with CT 66 on the south side of the river. The bridge was built in the year 2000  at the cost of $13 million to replace a stone arch bridge built in 1857 called the Windham Road Bridge (now a pedestrian bridge known as Garden on the Bridge ) located at the Windham Mills State Heritage Park . While the Frog Bridge is mostly a nondescript looking bridge, there are frogs sitting on tops of spools of thread on each side of the bridge. In 1986, Connecticut state legislator John Lescoe introduced a bill to fund a feasibility study for a new bridge over the Willimantic River between Willimantic and other parts of Windham. Af...

  One of the enduring symbols of Meriden, Connecticut is its historic traffic control tower. In the early days of automobile travel, traffic at intersections was directed by an attendant in a control tower. The attendant would get to their booth in the tower by climbing a ladder from the base of the tower. This attendant would manually switch the familiar red, yellow, and green lights of the traffic light in a regulated pattern. The traffic control tower also includes signs for destinations such as Hartford, Middletown and Waterbury, which are nearby cities in Connecticut. Also featured on the sign is a mention of US Route 6A, which was a southern alternate route for US 6 in Connecticut and is now part of CT 66. Meriden's traffic control tower was first erected and used on September 21, 1925. The traffic control tower was considered to be innovative for its time as this was before automated traffic signals caught on. The tower was considered unique and was quickly adopted by l...

One of two ferries crossing the Connecticut River within the State of Connecticut, the Rocky Hill-Glastonbury Ferry is the oldest continuously operating ferry service in the United States and it crosses between Rocky Hill and Glastonbury, Connecticut. The original ferry, which dates back to 1655, was just a small raft which was pushed across the river using long poles. It seemed logical to these early settlers to cross the river along this stretch along the river, leading to what was then part of Wethersfield to become a natural port and an early center for shipbuilding, agriculture, and trade. At one time, a horse on a treadmill in the center of the craft supplied the power to propel the craft across the Connecticut River. In 1876, the ferry was modernize into a steam driven craft. Today's craft is an open flatboat barge named the Hollister III, which carries three cars at a time and is towed back and forth by the Cumberland, which is a diesel powered tugboat. The ferry provides a...