Gribblenation

  Situated at the south end of Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, Watkins Glen is well known for wineries along Seneca Lake and waterfalls at Watkins Glen State Park . But one thing that gives the town much renown is its connection to the world of auto racing. The raceway at Watkins Glen Internationa l holds a number of big races every year, such as Six Hours at the Glen and the NASCAR Cup Series . The history of auto racing at Watkins Glen starts during the 1940s when the race followed a course on local roads and also through the streets of downtown Watkins Glen. It's a course that you can follow today, preferably at a more moderate speed than the auto racers of yore raced at. Let's explore the history of the original course, how it came to by and why it is no more. Organized races through the village of Watkins Glen and surrounding roads were first proposed and started by Cameron R. Argetsinger in 1948, marking the beginning of post-war sports car...

When I’m not on the clock helping to build or maintain the latest generation of bridges in the New York metro area, you can typically find me out and about documenting our nation’s many great bridge structures from coast to coast. While I’ve had the thrill of seeing all of this country’s greatest engineering achievements in-person over the last ten years of travel, it’s also true that some of my personal favorite discoveries are the ones well off the beaten path and far away from the established list of “Greatest Hits” everyone in road/bridge enthusiasm tends to want to talk about. Built in 1905 by the New Jersey Bridge Company of Manasquan, NJ, this charming little steel swing bridge is located along New Bridge Road (County Route 623) as it spans Alloway Creek in rural Salem County, NJ not far from the northern reaches of the Delaware Bay. (The name “Alloway” is derived from the name of a local Native American chief in colonial times, known as “Allowas”.) It was built as a center-be...