The Bridge Disaster 1941

The Bridge Disaster   by John Rose 10-30-2026

Much has been written about the 1941 collapse of our Waterville highway bridge, the subject of this America 250 article, but we will attempt it again. The bridge in question was still our 1881 bridge, built for horse and wagon or pedestrian traffic, long before the “horseless carriage” was more than a dream. In 1941, when cars and trucks rumbled over its wood plank deck, the bridge had been condemned for so long the sign had rusted away and yet the state refused to find the money to replace it.

Then, on July 24, 1941, a heavy milk truck caused one or more spans of the old bridge to collapse. No one was surprised (except the two men in the truck who suddenly found themselves in the river, I suppose). Fortunately the two men were not seriously injured but the bridge was seriously broken. Now, the people thought, the state would have to build us a new bridge. The loss of our bridge was both a blessing and a disaster. We would have to get a new bridge since it carried state highway traffic. Building a new bridge takes time. The disaster was that our merchants and service providers were heavily dependent on the trade from our friends in Wood County. We were closer for many folks on the other side of the river than Bowling Green or Perrysburg. Also our school district included part of Middleton Township then as it does today, making it difficult for these Wood County students to reach the Waterville School, especially for after school activities when there was no bus transportation.

We were back to the 1850s. One could ford the river (a route was marked), take a boat, or take the long detour through Perrysburg or Grand Rapids. Fortunately we now had the state’s attention. Plans were soon made, and finalized by October, to recondition the recently abandoned C & LE Interurban Bridge to a roadway bridge. The state would acquire the bridge and deck it over to create a 16 foot wide 2 lane automobile bridge (narrow but passable) and each county would create the bridge approach lanes on their side of the river. The “temporary” bridge finally opened in November 1941 and the Waterville merchants were so happy to regain their Wood County customers that they declared a holiday called “Bridge Day” and a weeklong celebration with special sales or bargain rates and a free dance was held at Witte’s Hall. This was all announced in the November 7, 1941 edition of the “Standard” newspaper.

The next disaster occurred just a month later, on December 7, 1941 when Imperial Japan attacked our naval forces at Pearl Harbor and we were suddenly in World War II. There was no steel for bridges and our temporary bridge would serve for six years until a new steel truss bridge opened in 1948.