It's recently been rebuilt, having lost a span in the hurricane of 1938, and a second a few years back. Luckily, it did not fall when my wife and I canoed under it, since she was concerned about that every time we did it, and I was certain (and dead wrong as it turned out) that it would never collapse.
Across this bridge, legend has it, former bookseller Henry Knox led troops and horses in January, 1776. They were hauling, pushing, levering43 heavy brass and iron cannons,6 small bronze mortars (coehorns),8full-sizemortars, and2 howitzers from Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain, New York, to Washington's position outsideBoston.
Washington deployed the artillery along the hills around Boston. Lord William Howe, commander of the British troops in Boston,saw that only the evacuation of his army could save it, and on March 18th, the victorious American army marched into the deserted city.
The artillery was not legend - but itISlegend that this was one of the bridges that Knox and his group crossed. This bridge, according to somebody, was built around 1790, possibly using stones from the earlier, authentic Fort Ti / Knox Trail bridge.
Theheights above Boston are nowjust history-- in the late 1800s, theywere hauled, wheelbarrow load by wheelbarrow load, to fill in Back Bay, stillthe poshest part of town, and the only place where streets run straight and you can drive around the block.
Stone bridge from the river bank:
From the bridge's abutment. It no longer reaches to the far bank.
From the top, looking toward Boston, 22 miles east.
