The Bayfield Bridge: a pictoral timeline spanning decades

During early settlement of Bayfield, a grist and saw mill were built on north shore of the Bayfield River, followed by the construction of a bridge across the river over the mill dam. Unfortunately, the dam broke during the spring floods of April 1841, washing the bridge away. The bridge was crudely maintained for nine years until the first wooden bridge was built circa 1850, (as depicted below in 1878) by Alf Erwin, the original owner of the building that currently houses the Bayfield Historical Society & Archives.

This 1904 postcard documents one of the many iterations of bridges built at the river crossing on Highway 21. Short Hill Road, once called Mill Road, intersects Highway 21 and goes beyond where the first river crossings were made by village pioneers. The bridge seen below was completed on October 12, 1893, as recorded in the diary of James Stonehouse, which also included an account of the damage it incurred by spring floods. In the spring of 1904, the worst-seen floods in decades left the bridge severely damaged.

The Goderich Signal newspaper once reported that “The Bridge over the Bayfield River was so badly damaged by this recent freshet that it is now impassable.” From the freshet – the flooding of a river from heavy rain or snow melt – the wooden bridge needed to be repaired regularly and replaced every 10 to 15 years. In 1905, a one-lane, two-span wrought iron bridge was constructed at the foot of Glass Hill, depicted below in 1913, and lasted about 44 years until it was replaced in 1949 by the concrete deck bridge.

Image of 1905’s two-span wrought iron bridge, pictured in 1935.

New concrete bridge constructed in 1949, photographed in 1950.

Postcard from 1961 of concrete bridge with Bayfield River sign.