The recent announcement by the Connecticut Department of Transportation of its five-year schedule to upgrade and overhaul the Gold Star Memorial bridges, crossing the Thames River, has brought to light the fact that highway bridges and associated infrastructures do not last forever.

The history of crossing the Thames, including the use of bridges, is varied and dates back to the years preceding the early settlers of our country.

Going back before the Dutch and British discovered Connecticut, the primary method used by local Indians to cross the Thames River was by small dugout canoes made from large oak trees. Dugout canoes continued to be used by the first settlers of New London in the mid-1650s.

Because of an increased need by settlers to transport their animal stock from the west side of the river and to tend their farms on the east side, a full time “ferry boat system” was established. Within a few years, large flat bottom scows, using oars and sails, were put into operation. This permitted transporting several passengers and animals at one time across the river.

In 1821, larger and faster ferry boats powered by teams of four to six horses were introduced into the system. These ferries were capable of transporting four to five stagecoaches having four to six horses each.

The use of “horse-powered” ferries continued until the late 1840’s, when steam powered ferries became the norm. Over the years, these ferries increased in size from about 55 feet to 135 feet, which enabled a sizable number of passengers and horse-driven coaches or wagons and livestock to cross the river on a single trip.

With the advent of trains, the lack of a Thames River crossing became a hindrance for passengers traveling between New York and Boston.

At first it was necessary to unload passengers and cargo from trains arriving on either side of the river and then transport them by special ferry to trains awaiting them on the other side so they could continue onto their destination. In 1858, a special “train ferry” system was established enabling six to eight railroad cars to be taken across at any one time. Although this reduced some of the inconvenience experienced by passengers, it still took a considerable amount of time to detach and reattach individual train cars from their locomotives and also to load and transport them on the ferries.

From the early beginning of the train ferry system, serious consideration and studies were given to building a train bridge to cross the Thames. The studies revealed that the project was beyond the engineering and financial resources of the time.

In 1884, after a great deal of advances in engineering, as well as large financial resources being made available, approval was given to construct a railroad bridge crossing the Thames. The double-track Thames River Railroad Bridge was completed in 1889, and the train ferry was discontinued.

By 1910, with the increase in the weights of locomotives and freight cars, the bridge was considered unsafe and the railroad was compelled to erect a new and heavier structure. The new bridge, the one in use today, was completed and placed in operation in January 1919.

The older bridge was ceded to the State of Connecticut and later converted into the first vehicle bridge to cross the Thames. It opened for traffic in November 1919, and trolley tracks were added to the structure in October 1922. Incidentally, in an effort to recoup monies spent converting the bridge, a toll was charged until 1924.

By the mid-1930s, a large increase in vehicles crossing the bridge, estimated to be 5 million vehicles per year, as well as problems associated with the opening and closing the wing-span of the bridge, created the necessity to build a new highway bridge.

The new Thames River Bridge, with a span of one mile, opened on Feb. 27, 1943. This new bridge boasted of having four traffic lanes – two traveling north and two south. As many will recall, this was also a toll bridge.

In July 1953, the bridge was renamed the Gold Star Memorial Bridge in memory of “those residents of Waterford, New London and Groton who made the supreme sacrifice in the service of their country.”

By the mid 1960s, due to major upsurges in employment at the Electric Boat Company, Pfizer and the Submarine Base, and a large amount of other traffic traveling through Groton and New London, the bridge became incapable of handling the traffic and engineers developed plans to build a new bridge with five 12-foot lanes and a breakdown lane over the River.

They also incorporated plans to extend the decking of the older Gold Star Bridge, which would increase the capacity to five lanes. The project to construct the new bridge and convert the older bridge began in early 1969 and was completed in late 1975.

At 6,000 feet in length, they are the largest bridges in the state.

Although the Gold Star Memorial Bridge spans have lived up to their expectations for handling the large amount of traffic traveling across the Thames River, they are in need of overhaul and upgrades.

Hopefully this will reduce the need to replace one or both of the bridges in the future – at least in my lifetime.

Jim Streeter is the Groton Town Historian and a former mayor of Groton. The Times is pleased to announce that he has decided to resurrect a history column he wrote for many years.