Saga Of The Lisbon Street Bridge

Here's something we've been wanting to do for some time now. Our friends at the Wellsville Historical Society found a couple of more photos that put the finishing touch on it. We've talked about it before and have shown a picture of a post card of what it looked like back around 1907. Now we can wrap it up.

Coming down Route 45 (Lisbon Road) when the bridge was still there you made a right turn at Highland Avenue to enter the Village. The road didn't go straight as it does today. That was before the days of the flood wall. After crossing the bridge the street came out behind the Boy-In-The-Boot and intersected with Wells Avenue. If you wanted to travel up Wells toward East Liverpool you had to make a left after crossing the bridge.

On April 15, 1937, nearly 73 years ago, that bridge was knocked off its foundation by a speeding car. Must have had a powerful engine. He had to slow down to make the turn. It was a pretty good impact. One of the passengers broke the windshield and the car was deemed a total. There was the driver and two passengers. Although banged up and bruised we have been told they all walked away from the wreck. The car didn't go down with the bridge. The driver was a fellow named Bob Runyon and his passengers were Homer Gray & John Graham.

Pictured here is what the bridge looked like back around 1907. This is a copy of a post card we've shown before. In the second picture is the Runyon car that did the damage. The third shows the beginning of the clean up with the bridge sitting in Little Yellow Creek. The fourth picture is what that area looks like today.

Following the 1936 flood, plans were already in the works for the flood wall. The bridge was never rebuilt. The only sign that it existed is the one foundation under the deck of the Pete Amato Boardwalk. Portions of the original brick street are still around the fountain. Apparently Runyon saved them the problem of what to do with the bridge.

As Paul Harvey use to say, now you know the rest of the story. Thanks to Bonny & Brassy for finding the pictures.

ole nib