Talbot Avenue Bridge, 2007
A CSX freight train passes under Talbot Avenue Bridge, 2015

The Talbot Avenue bridge in Montgomery County, Maryland, was a historic one-lane metal girder bridge that connected the neighborhood of Lyttonsville to downtown Silver Spring. Built in 1918 and dismantled in 2019, the bridge had historic value as a connection from an antebellum community founded by a free Black laborer to neighborhoods where for decades Black people were allowed to work, but not live.[1]

As of 2022, its main span is in storage with plans to display it along the Georgetown Branch Trail.[2]

History

The bridge replaced an earlier span across the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's double-track Metropolitan Branch line, which had opened in 1873.[3]

Its primary span used components of a dismantled railroad turntable.[2] The structure was 106 feet long and 14.5 feet wide, from timber curb to curb and an out-to-out width of 18 feet. The greater structure consisted of a through-plate girder in the center span, rolled girders in the end spans, timber floor beams, a wood plank deck and a timber railing.[3]

A new deck was added in 1986.[3] The bridge connected Hanover Street and Lanier Drive.[4]

A 1993 inspection report indicated the structure was in fair to poor condition with cracking, corrosion and section loss. The wood and steel on the bridge had been in disrepair, making it hard to keep intact.[5]

In 2016, preservationists protested plans to demolish the structure to make way for the planned light rail Purple Line.[6][7]

In May 2017, the bridge was closed to vehicles after a safety inspection determined it to be unsafe.[8]

The bridge closed in June 2019, and was dismantled later that year.[9] Its main span was preserved and stored, with plans to place it on public display along the Georgetown Branch Trail.[2]

It will be replaced by a new two-lane bridge, which is currently under construction. It will carry the Georgetown Branch Trail extension of the Capital Crescent Trail to Silver Spring.[10]

In February 2019, the bridge was recorded as part of the Historic American Engineering Record. The project historian wrote, "The bridge also is significant for its social history and as a cultural landscape element. The tracks beneath the bridge formed a dividing line separating segregated suburban communities. African Americans living west of the bridge in Lyttonsville relied on the structure as a vital link to jobs, shopping, and recreational opportunities unavailable in their community. People east of the bridge lived in what was historically a sundown suburb: a place where African Americans could not buy or rent homes and where Jim Crow segregation was rigidly enforced."[2]

References

  1. ↑ Shaver, Katherine (September 24, 2016). "A Montgomery bridge that linked black and white neighborhoods during segregation soon will be lost to history". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Metropolitan Branch Bridge 9A (HAER MD-195)". Historic American Engineering Record. 2019. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  3. 1 2 3 "Inventory of Historic Bridges, Properties number M: 36-30" (PDF). Maryland Historic Trust. April 3, 2001. Retrieved 2017-02-10.
  4. ↑ "Talbot Avenue bridge closes today for repairs". www.gazette.net. Retrieved 2017-02-10.
  5. ↑ Robinson, Mark (April 7, 2016). "The strung out bridges of Montgomery County". The Sentinel. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  6. ↑ Shaver, Katherine (February 8, 2017). "Montgomery County moves to preserve century-old bridge with ties to segregation". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  7. ↑ "Neighborhood profile: Lyttonsville". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
  8. ↑ "Historic Maryland bridge is closed after failing inspection". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-08-31.
  9. ↑ Pollak, Suzanne. "Residents say goodbye to the historic Talbot Avenue Bridge". thesentinel.com. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  10. ↑ "Talbot Avenue Bridge Design Meeting". April 16, 2019. Archived from the original on November 2, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
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