The Urbanna Toll Bridge Company was formed on Aug. 7, 1858 with the sole purpose of building a wooden bridge across Urbanna Creek.
The bridge was the result of a few Urbanna businessmen who wanted to improve the town’s economy and to save grace after one of the most contentious political upheavals in Middlesex County history.
It involved a bitter debate over moving the colonial county courthouse from Urbanna to what was touted as a more central location in the county in the village of Saluda. Proponents of moving the courthouse to Saluda won by one vote in a countywide referendum in 1849 to move the courthouse. The courthouse was moved to a newer courthouse building in Saluda in 1852. That building is now referred to as the Middlesex County Historic Courthouse, because in more recent years a third, newer courthouse building was constructed nearby.
Throughout county history nothing seems to have raised the blood pressure of Middlesex residents more than the emotions that surrounded the location of their county seat.
One selling point on moving to Saluda was the complaint of the slow moving “chain ferry” across Urbanna Creek. Since the colonial period there had been a ferry across the creek with daily operation dependent on weather.
To build a bridge, a group of Urbanna investors formed the toll bridge company and the first officers were W.T. Street, president; Alfred Palmer, vice president; Edwin T. Perkins, secretary; and Lewis Jones, treasurer.
The provisions to build the bridge called for pilings of spruce and sills and cross planks made of heart chestnut or heart white oak. A draw span was to be 30-feet wide to support the same five-ton load as the rest of the bridge and be built so one person could operate it.
The contract on the first bridge was let to David Van Wagenen, who won with a $2,100 bid. The first bridge was to be completed by Jan. 1, 1859. The first tolls were fixed at three cents a head or three cents a wheel or one fourth cent per bushel of produce across the bridge. Another new bridge was erected to replace the old bridge in 1909 and was taken in by the Virginia Highway Department in 1928.
The current non-draw concrete bridge was built in 1957. It is officially called Beryl R. (Dick) Newman Memorial Bridge. The late Newman was a World War II Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. He lived in Remlik, ran a business in Urbanna and has a memorial dedicated to him on the grounds of the Middlesex County Historic Courthouse.
Bridge story
There are many stories that go along with the older Urbanna drawbridge. One tale was spun by the late Francis Bennett of Stormont, a farmer, builder and member of the Middlesex County Board of Supervisors in the 1950s.
Bennett’s experience occurred on a foggy night in the 1920s. He and his future wife, Erline Vaughan of Deltaville, and some other young people were crossing the bridge to attend a dance in Urbanna. The draw was open to allow an oyster boat to clear.
There were no gates and no watchman to warn of the open draw. Bennett’s Model T Ford was at the open draw before he realized the bridge was open. The vehicle fell through and landed on the boat. With some rope and good manpower, the car was soon back on the bridge and they continued on their way.
It happened right here in Rivah country!
