BY JOSH DAVISNorth Country This Week

RAYMONDVILLE—Martin Bregg was just learning to drive when his mother dared him to cross the Raymondville parabolic bridge in the family’s stick shift AMC Gremlin.

“I burned rubber,” Bregg said, recalling how he shook as he approached the bridge’s narrow berth and steel deck.

Driving the bridge was a common trial by fire for student drivers in Norfolk then, but ceased in 1979 when the bridge closed to all traffic.

While it is unlikely that anyone will drive over the bridge again, Bregg hopes his efforts to preserve the ornate lenticular bridge mean that younger generations will also have a chance to make their own memories over the Raquette River.  

Bregg, along with members of Norfolk’s Historical Association, see the public land adjacent to the bridge as valuable and want to see it developed for the benefit of the community.

Part of his vision is to have the bridge and the surrounding area become a walking route and attraction for visitors to enjoy a quiet, natural space.

The bridge was built in 1886 by the Berlin Iron bridge Company of Connecticut, and served as part of a major roadway in St. Lawrence County prior to the construction of state Highway 56.

A product of its time, it is well-appointed with art nouveau style iron features and design considerations that celebrated function with form. Photos of it can be found in the Library of Congress.

It also features its share of rust and vines growing about its cabling and trusses, though Norfolk town work crews have recently cleared away much of the tall brush and debris from the eastern approach of the bridge.

“It will take work,” Bregg said.

But neither the town, nor St. Lawrence County, the owner of the bridge, have any solid intentions to develop the site or repair the bridge in any fashion.  There are also no pending actions to demolish the bridge, though its deterioration will occur naturally without a restoration effort.

“And once it’s gone it’s gone,” Bregg said.

The bridge is an agenda item for the next meeting of the Norfolk Historical Association, which will take place May 20 at the Norfolk Museum.

The group is discussing possible avenues to develop the land surrounding the bridge. Bregg suggested that the space could be used as a park, which could double as a venue for the town’s summer concert series or other community events.

“It’s a space we can bring back to life,” Bregg said.

He said the former Raymondville Elementary School across state Route 56 from the bridge could be demolished to make parking spaces for the parabolic bridge park, which would also eliminate a derelict building from the community’s main street.

He said developing the area would also capitalize on local tourism trends, noting that a nearby dam provides ample salmon fishing opportunity in autumn.

Bregg posited that tourists travel from far afield to see Vermont’s covered bridges, and said that with a few well-placed tourism brochures in New York State welcome areas Raymondville too could attract visitors.

“Of course all of this takes money,” Bregg said. He said that the Historical Association is in the early stages of researching historical preservation grants and other funding that could be available to restore the bridge and develop the site.

He said he joined the “very active group” last year with the primary objective of preserving the bridge. Those interested in supporting the preservation of Raymondville’s parabolic bridge can visit the Norfolk Museum website, email raymondvilleparabolicbridge@gmail.com or call or text a dedicated phone line at (315) 262-4329.