Building Address: Beaver Dam Road
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Surveyor’s Name: Jayme Breschard
Survey Date: June 11, 2004
Building Type: bridge
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Date of Construction: crossing has been in existence since mid-eighteenth century
Architect:
Building Dimensions: 39 feet long and 51 feet wide
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Decorative Features: river rock/cobblestone wall, concrete with stone aggregate capping, and poured concrete conduit
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Condition: good
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Description:
The Beaverdam Creek Bridge crosses the upper portion of Beaverdam Creek from east to west. The creek flows south into the Great South Bay. The bridge forms a section of Beaver Dam Road, denoted by its walls composed of rounded stones.
Historical Information:
In 1702, South Country Road (originally called the Highway at South) was established between Fire Place and Bellport (Fire Place was renamed Brookhaven by vote in 1871). Another road was petitioned for by twelve Fire Place landowners in 1735. Two years later, Beaver Dam Road was completed. (The east end of Beaver Dam Road was known in 1873 as South Street while the west end was known as Ruland Avenue. In 1888, Beaver Dam Road was known as Brookhaven Avenue.)
Photographs from the late nineteenth-century identify a small wooden bridge at the junction of Beaver Dam Road and Beaverdam Creek. Early twentieth-century postcards and photographs of the Beaverdam Creek Bridge illustrate wood rails with a river rock conduit. The conduit has since been modified from a wide and rounded opening to one more narrow and squared. The rubble stone has been replaced by poured concrete. Beaver Dam Road has been widened and paved.
The river rock walls of the bridge may have been constructed as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) or Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) project during the New Deal Era to provide both economic relief for unemployed residents and civic improvement.
Source:
Deitz, John B. Brookhaven, NY; Internet; available at http://prometheusli.com/hamlet/history/HistoricSitesImages.asp?InventoryCode=Br01.1-S; accessed 13 July 2004.