Black River Bridge North of Wellington – Part 1

Lorain County has long been a source of enjoyment for historic bridge enthusiasts.

Why? Perhaps because of the Black River, which extends south from Lorain to Elyria, where it splits into two branches and continues even further into the southern part of the County. Its presence in the two largest cities, as well as its meanderings into the countryside, provides many opportunities for bridges to span it. Many bridges over the Black River have been built and replaced over the county's 200 year history.

One of these bridges is one my father told me about years ago. He explained that there used to be a one-lane bridge on Ohio Route 58 north of Wellington that used to have a traffic light at each end so cars would know when to cross. Dad noted that it was where the highway makes a big sweep to the east when you're heading south. (It's the section of Route 58 just south of Merriam Road).

Since Dad told me that in the 1980s, every time I drove through that area, I wondered if the bridge was still there in the woods, bypassed and left standing. As it turns out, there is an old auto bridge in the woods (the subject for another post) but it predates the one that my father told me about.

I never thought I'd see a photo of the bridge Dad mentioned until historian and archivist Dennis Lamont provided me one. That's it at the top of this post. His caption for it noted, "Water bound slag macadam, finished in 1914 using the National Tube Co. crushed blast furnace slag produced at Lorain, Ohio." It was taken June 18, 1918.

So how long did the bridge remain in place? Fortunately its replacement was well-covered in the local newspapers. A January 14, 1950 editorial in the Lorain Journal mentions the long-needed improvements of Route 58, including "a new bridge north of Wellington."

Three years later, an article from the February 20, 1953 Lorain Journal indicated that the traffic light that my father mentioned was about to be installed on the bridge.

Some confusion resulted, however, since the article mentioned that "the light on Route 58 will be placed on the new bridge and will control one-way movement of traffic."

Three days later in the newspaper, columnist Luella Kepler expressed her confusion in her column about which bridge was getting the new traffic light. "It can't possibly be my bridge they are talking about, because The Journal clearly stated it is to take place at the NEW bridge north of Wellington, and my bridge has been there practically before me."

But it was the same bridge after all. It was getting readied for handling the excessive traffic that would re-routed onto it due to the construction on Route 18. Thus it would be somewhat 'new' with the improvements.

This article from the March 28, 1953 Chronicle-Telegram explains.