Dear Bill, What an interesting question. I had never heard of "Rio Grande" in Delaware Twp. before. One way to approach this question is to check the list of bridges in the township and their dates of construction. Sad to say, none of them is known to have been built in 1874. However, the beautiful truss bridge over the Lockatong Creek has a date of 1876. It was built by Lambertville Iron Works. Perhaps it took two years to build, but I rather doubt it. I was intrigued by the description of "an iron stringer bridge, the trusses to be enclosed with boards." That suggests that the finished product looked a lot like a covered bridge, although the only surviving covered bridge in Delaware Twp. is made of wood, and that was built in 1872. There are some bridges whose date of construction is not known. All of them are stone arch bridges, which do not meet your description. The one exception, a truss bridge, is the bridge over the Wickecheoke on Whiskey Lane but the Wickecheoke at that point is not that "Grande". But the freeholders were certainly planning for a real bridge. I wonder if the minutes show when the bridge was finished. Regards, Marfy On Mon, Jun 30, 2008 at 8:26 PM, William Hartman <[email protected]> wrote: > Does anyone know the location of "Rio Grande" in Delaware Township? > > I have checked the book "Hunterdon County Place Names" by Phyllis B. > D'Autrechy and the name was not listed. > > It was found in the Hunterdon Republican Newspaper dated August 20, 1874, > on page 3, left column about mid-way down!: > > "The Board of Freeholders met at Sergeantsville on Tuesday of last week and > after viewing the site, ordered a new bridge to be built at Rio Grande, in > Delaware Township. It is to be an iron stringer bridge, the trusses to be > enclosed with boards, which has proved to be the most economical method. The > building of the bridge was placed in the hands of the following committee, > viz: Capt. James Bird, W. B. Hockenbury, and Joseph Smith. The probable > expense of its construction will be about $700." > > Thank you for any positive assistance. > > Regards, Bill > Visit the Hunterdon County GenWeb page at: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~njhunter <http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Enjhunter> > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Thank you Marfy, If I didn't hear from you, I was going to send a special request! As you may know, I am going to put up the Hunterdon Republican Newspaper on the Internet. The project will take a few years to complete since the paper was in existence from 1856 until 1953. I am presently getting digital images of the microfilm which is being lent to me by the Hunterdon County Library. I have just completed 1874 and working my way up to the present. I've got some preliminary material at http://www.huntrepnews.com >From now on, as I scan each issue, I will be looking for any information that may shed light on what river or creek may have been called the "Rio Grande". The committee assigned the task of building the bridge was Capt. James Bird, a freeholder from Lambertville, William B. Hockenbury from Kingwood and Joseph Smith from Delaware Township. This does not in itself pinpoint the location. I am leaning towards the Alexauken Creek. I rode my bicycle many times on both Lambertville/Headquarters Road down to Lambertville and also on Alexauken Creek Road. If the people at that time (1870s) knew about the real Rio Grande River, then they would have known that it made quite a cut in the topography of the land. If you have driven either of the roads that I mentioned, the Alexauken Creek runs between them. As it nears Lambertville and exits into the Delaware River, there is an escarpment of perhaps 50 or so feet as the creek eroded its way through the sandstone. Of course, many of the creeks that empty into the Delaware River that flow through Delaware Township have similar examples of erosion as they make their final approach through the sandstone. Wickecheoke Creek, near Stockton, also has this characteristic and there is also a creek that runs along Brookville Hollow Road just South of Stockton! I will take your advice and as I continue scanning, I'll look at all the possibilities. Thanks again, and if I find the answer, it will be posted. Bill ----- Original Message ----- From: Marfy Goodspeed To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 7:55 AM Subject: Re: [NJHUNTER] Rio Grande, Delaware Township Dear Bill, What an interesting question. I had never heard of "Rio Grande" in Delaware Twp. before. One way to approach this question is to check the list of bridges in the township and their dates of construction. Sad to say, none of them is known to have been built in 1874. However, the beautiful truss bridge over the Lockatong Creek has a date of 1876. It was built by Lambertville Iron Works. Perhaps it took two years to build, but I rather doubt it. I was intrigued by the description of "an iron stringer bridge, the trusses to be enclosed with boards." That suggests that the finished product looked a lot like a covered bridge, although the only surviving covered bridge in Delaware Twp. is made of wood, and that was built in 1872. There are some bridges whose date of construction is not known. All of them are stone arch bridges, which do not meet your description. The one exception, a truss bridge, is the bridge over the Wickecheoke on Whiskey Lane but the Wickecheoke at that point is not that "Grande". But the freeholders were certainly planning for a real bridge. I wonder if the minutes show when the bridge was finished. Regards, Marfy On Mon, Jun 30, 2008 at 8:26 PM, William Hartman <[email protected]> wrote: > Does anyone know the location of "Rio Grande" in Delaware Township? > > I have checked the book "Hunterdon County Place Names" by Phyllis B. > D'Autrechy and the name was not listed. > > It was found in the Hunterdon Republican Newspaper dated August 20, 1874, > on page 3, left column about mid-way down!: > > "The Board of Freeholders met at Sergeantsville on Tuesday of last week and > after viewing the site, ordered a new bridge to be built at Rio Grande, in > Delaware Township. It is to be an iron stringer bridge, the trusses to be > enclosed with boards, which has proved to be the most economical method. The > building of the bridge was placed in the hands of the following committee, > viz: Capt. James Bird, W. B. Hockenbury, and Joseph Smith. The probable > expense of its construction will be about $700." > > Thank you for any positive assistance. > > Regards, Bill > Visit the Hunterdon County GenWeb page at: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~njhunter <http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Enjhunter> > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > Visit the Hunterdon County GenWeb page at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~njhunter ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Bill, Just looked at the Hunterdon County Democrat for August 18th, 1874 and found the following article: New Bridge The Board of Freeholders decided at a meeting held on Tuesday last, to erect a new bridge over what used to be known as "Snake Creek", in Delaware township near "The Duck's Flat." What nice names those "Shunktowners" give their water courses and so forth. What could be more euphonious or high sounding then "Snake Creek" and "Duck's Flat"? Might this the same reference? Dennis At 12:01 PM 7/1/2008, you wrote: >Thank you Marfy, > >If I didn't hear from you, I was going to send a special request! > >As you may know, I am going to put up the Hunterdon Republican >Newspaper on the Internet. The project will take a few years to >complete since the paper was in existence from 1856 until 1953. I am >presently getting digital images of the microfilm which is being >lent to me by the Hunterdon County Library. I have just completed >1874 and working my way up to the present. I've got some preliminary >material at http://www.huntrepnews.com > > >From now on, as I scan each issue, I will be looking for any > information that may shed light on what river or creek may have > been called the "Rio Grande". The committee assigned the task of > building the bridge was Capt. James Bird, a freeholder from > Lambertville, William B. Hockenbury from Kingwood and Joseph Smith > from Delaware Township. This does not in itself pinpoint the > location. I am leaning towards the Alexauken Creek. I rode my > bicycle many times on both Lambertville/Headquarters Road down to > Lambertville and also on Alexauken Creek Road. If the people at > that time (1870s) knew about the real Rio Grande River, then they > would have known that it made quite a cut in the topography of the > land. If you have driven either of the roads that I mentioned, the > Alexauken Creek runs between them. As it nears Lambertville and > exits into the Delaware River, there is an escarpment of perhaps 50 > or so feet as the creek eroded its way through the sandstone. Of > course, many of the c! > reeks that empty into the Delaware River that flow through > Delaware Township have similar examples of erosion as they make > their final approach through the sandstone. Wickecheoke Creek, near > Stockton, also has this characteristic and there is also a creek > that runs along Brookville Hollow Road just South of Stockton! > >I will take your advice and as I continue scanning, I'll look at all >the possibilities. > >Thanks again, and if I find the answer, it will be posted. > >Bill > > > >----- Original Message ----- > From: Marfy Goodspeed > To: [email protected] > Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 7:55 AM > Subject: Re: [NJHUNTER] Rio Grande, Delaware Township > > > Dear Bill, > > What an interesting question. I had never heard of "Rio Grande" in Delaware > Twp. before. > > One way to approach this question is to check the list of bridges in the > township and their dates of construction. Sad to say, none of them is known > to have been built in 1874. > > However, the beautiful truss bridge over the Lockatong Creek has a date of > 1876. It was built by Lambertville Iron Works. Perhaps it took > two years to > build, but I rather doubt it. > > I was intrigued by the description of "an iron stringer bridge, the trusses > to be enclosed with boards." That suggests that the finished product looked > a lot like a covered bridge, although the only surviving covered bridge in > Delaware Twp. is made of wood, and that was built in 1872. > > There are some bridges whose date of construction is not known. All of them > are stone arch bridges, which do not meet your description. The one > exception, a truss bridge, is the bridge over the Wickecheoke on Whiskey > Lane but the Wickecheoke at that point is not that "Grande". > > But the freeholders were certainly planning for a real bridge. I wonder if > the minutes show when the bridge was finished. > > Regards, > Marfy > > > > On Mon, Jun 30, 2008 at 8:26 PM, William Hartman <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Does anyone know the location of "Rio Grande" in Delaware Township? > > > > I have checked the book "Hunterdon County Place Names" by Phyllis B. > > D'Autrechy and the name was not listed. > > > > It was found in the Hunterdon Republican Newspaper dated August 20, 1874, > > on page 3, left column about mid-way down!: > > > > "The Board of Freeholders met at Sergeantsville on Tuesday of > last week and > > after viewing the site, ordered a new bridge to be built at Rio > Grande, in > > Delaware Township. It is to be an iron stringer bridge, the trusses to be > > enclosed with boards, which has proved to be the most > economical method. The > > building of the bridge was placed in the hands of the following > committee, > > viz: Capt. James Bird, W. B. Hockenbury, and Joseph Smith. The probable > > expense of its construction will be about $700." > > > > Thank you for any positive assistance. > > > > Regards, Bill > > Visit the Hunterdon County GenWeb page at: > > http://www.rootsweb.com/~njhunter <http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Enjhunter> > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > Visit the Hunterdon County GenWeb page at: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~njhunter > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >Visit the Hunterdon County GenWeb page at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~njhunter >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >[email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without >the quotes in the subject and the body of the message