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CLEANING UP THE POTOMAC

POTOMAC RIVER BRU>GE

Two decades ago the Potomac River was notoriously polluted. Floating clumps and nauseating odors drove its former lovers away from its banks; its sandy swimming areas became murky sewers. Bacterial counts mounted, and river people were told their fun days on the Potomac were over. From its inauspicious beginning at the Fairfax Stone in West Virginia the Potomac River soaks up the acid from abandoned mines and picks up color from the coal deposits it penetrates. The South Branch flows through farmland from Virginia. When the two meet, the clear south branch helps the other to clean up its act by diluting the acid, and the Potomac becomes a cleaner river. Silt from herbicides, fertilizers, and construction continue to do their share of damage as the water proceeds east and south. The city took a step in faith when it prepared a campground, which it dedicated in 1969. Since then improvements have been made annually; it has electricity, water, a boatramp, and shower building. A decade and multi-million dollars of cleanup later, life returned to the water. Kayaks, canoes, rafts, and tubes again passed Brunswick's front door. Prospering businesses provide equipment for the hundreds who don their helmets and oars and bounce downriver a couple hours to be picked up and returned by truck or car to the place of beginning. What happened? Plankton returned, thanks to reductions in phosphorus and chlorophyl. The oxygen level increased, giving aquatic life another lease. Organic river matter was reduced nearly by half. Is it clean? Safe? Not 100%, but it's much cleaner than it has been in a long time. It's Brunswick's answer to Ocean City. In recent years Brunswick's development and Mayor's office have brought the people to the river. Several times a year people are attracted like a nail to a magnet. First the area under the bridge was cleared and mowed. A show was performed in the sylvan setting of 1989 to much acclaim. Town picnics are held there. Boat races . . . of a sort. Bike rides and hikes along the canal. Foot races. Brunswick has rediscovered its riverfront.

The initial effort to erect a bridge over the Potomac at Brunswick failed. Although the Maryland Assembly approved on February 15, 1848, the incorporation of a company called "The Berlin & Potomac Bridge Co." and authorized its incorporation, this bridge was not constructed. The second venture was more successful. It resulted in a covered wood structure. The Virginia Legislature incorporated the "Loudoun Bridge Company" at its 1853-54 Session and appropriated $30,000 of Virginia state funds. On March 10th, 1854, the Maryland Assembly gave "assent to the legislative action of Virginia. It protected the ferry owner from any damages suffered by its erection. Just when actual construction began is not known, though according to some old county records it was in operation by July 25, 1857. About 1600 feet in length, it was constructed of the best grade white pine on stringers, which rested on eight stone piers and abutments at each end. It had sufficient width for passing teams. On the Maryland end an inclined approach terminated at the edge of the tow-path; traffic crossed the lock bridge to Berlin's First Street (Virginia Avenue). The piers were somewhat higher than those of the Point of Rocks bridge. That one was washed away by high water. As precaution against this, large eye-bolts were imbedded in the pier masonry. During the Civil War an order of May 1, 1861, stated in part: "should it become necessary ... destroy the bridges across the Potomac." Suddenly, onSundaymorning,June 9th, 1861, a Confederate cavalryman rode through the covered bridge to near Berlin. He dashed oil on the dry timber and set it afire in several places. In a few moments the entire structure was a roaring blaze; by nightfall, all that remained were eight blackened piers standing in the river. Nine years afterward the Maryland Assembly incorporated "The Berlin Bridge Company" in 1870. Nothing, however, came of the effort. Twenty years later Berlin was becoming the "boom town" of Brunswick. A group of Frederick residents formed the "Berlin and Lovettsville Bridge Company" and erected the 1893 steel structure. Permissions to extend the Maryland approach over a part of First Street (Virginia Avenue) was granted to the new municipality. The Youngstown (Ohio) Bridge Company began work on the ten-span "Crescent type structure late in 1892. Over 1700 feet long1 it rested on the first piers. On October 15, 1934, Brunswick's bridge became a part of the Maryland State Roads system

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