"Our Bridges" in Medfield

A Snippet of Medfield History...

"Our Bridges"

By Claire Shaw

"Having watched for months the repairing of the bridge over the Charles River on Route 109, I began wondering just how many bridges there once were in Medfield. Because the quantity of wetlands in Medfield is extremely high, even the smallest stream had to have a crossing. If it could not be forded, it would have required some form of passage. The labor involved in creating a way to make travel and transport easier throughout the town must have been enormous.

In his book on Medfield from 1650 to 1886, William Tilden noted that in the 19th century, Medfield had two rivers, the Charles, named for England’s King Charles I, and the Stop River, the origin of its name unknown. He went on to list seven waterways designated as brooks. Each of these tributaries boasted anywhere from three to five bridges with names such as Ellis, Dwight, Brastow, Death, Thurston, and Frairy, all early Medfield settlers. The Charles alone was crossed by these five bridges.

At one time, there were approximately 25 bridges in Medfield. Today, in many cases, a “bridge” is just part of the road under which the stream or river flows, unnoticed. There are few remaining structures immediately recognizable as bridges, so we are left to check for signs posted along the roads of our town.

The postcard shows the then-new bridge over the Charles River. The trolley car shown ran from 1899 to 1924; the presence of the horse and buggy implies the earlier part of that time span."