Out of the Dust
By Bob Betz
(Hamilton, NY – Feb. 2014) I have in my collection of old books a copy of the American Gazetteer, dated 1810. The title page states its contents as “a full account of the Civil Divisions, Rivers, Harbors, Indian Tribes, etc., of the American Continent: also of the West India and other appendant islands with a particular description of Louisiana.”
This seems quite an undertaking, but I assure you it is true. The reference list in the preface is very impressive. Not listed on the title page but included at the end of the volume is the latest census.
From the various descriptive articles, I submit the following for your information.
The Ashley River Bridge
The Ashley River Bridge, now building (April 1810) in the vicinity of Charleston, South Carolina, is distant from that city about a mile, and is connected with Cannonborough by Elliot Street. The bridge is thirty-three feet wide, including the sidewalks of fourth-and-a-half feet each. Its whole length will be 2,100 feet.
It is placed on piles driven into the bed of the river, five of which are called a section, and the sections are 25 feet apart. All those that are in the deep water are to be strengthened by girders and braces.
The bridge is to be lighted by a sufficient number of lamps and to be enclosed by a near and handsome railing; the footpaths are to be protected, likewise, by railings.
In a convenient part of the bridge where there are 15 feet of water at low tide, a draw is placed, 30 feet wide, on both sides of which are to be fixed buoys and anchors, to facilitate the passage of vessels through it.
The piles which support the bridge are covered with sheet-lead to protect them from the works, which are perhaps nowhere more destructive than in this harbor. Ashley River Bridge was begun in February 1810 and was to be completed the following summer.
The principal architect is Mr. William Mills of Massachusetts who constructed the celebrated bridge over the Potomac at Washington.
That work procured for Mr. Mills the highest credit and no doubt is entertained but that he will be equally successful in this present undertaking.
The length of the causeway on both sides of the bridge will be nearly 3,000 feet, which, together with the bridge itself is within 200 feet of a mile. From the causeway on the side of the river opposite the city, a turnpike is to be made nine miles to Ranterell’s Ferry, in as straight a line as possible. This will shorten the road in that space by five miles. The company, which has undertaken this important work (which, should they succeed, will doubtless lead the way to other corporations, for like purposes) was incorporated by an act of the legislature in 1808.
The toll of the bridge, as established by that act, will be nearly the same as that now paid at Ashley Ferry. The toll over the causeway is not fixed but cannot exceed 20 percent per annum of the cost of the same. The company is allowed seven years to complete the bridge, causeway and road, but it is expected that the whole will be finished in a little more than two years from the date of the act.
Bob Betz is an independent historian who volunteers in the Madison County Clerk’s Office Archives. While working there, Betz has recaptured stories of Madison County’s past ‘out of the dust.’ His columns are taken from historic documents and written in the language of the era. He can be reached at history@m3pmedia.com.