Old Saybrook - When the first bridge from Old Saybrook to Old Lyme was dedicated on Aug. 24, 1911, The Day heralded the event as one of far greater meaning "than the casual thinker realizes."

"It means a diversion toward New London of highway travel in large amounts; it means that into this city from the west is now open an unbroken highway, over which traffic may come for the upbuilding of this city," a story in The Day reads.

It was indeed a great moment for Connecticut, said Barbara Maynard, of the Old Saybrook Historical Society. On Aug. 24, the group will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the bridge's dedication with an antique auto parade over the Raymond E. Baldwin Bridge. The parade is part of a "Centennial Connections: Crossing the Connecticut" event that will include a luncheon at the Dock & Dine restaurant in Saybrook Point.

Until the 1911 bridge was built, people had to count on unreliable and sometimes dangerous ferries to cross the Connecticut River.

"The river was a big barrier, and the bridge provided a connection between the two banks of the river," said Tedd Levy, of the historical society.

The first mode of transportation across the river was a raft made out of logs tied together, Maynard said. Over the years, different types of ferries were used, including one propelled by horses on a treadmill, she said.

"If the wind was blowing the wrong way, you just might not land in the Old Lyme landing," she said. "So the bridge really was greatly celebrated. It became a statewide celebration. ... It started easier transportation, better tourism, better delivery of goods, and actually, opportunities for people to enjoy the shoreline."

'We have got it at last'

On that August day 100 years ago, some 500 cars paraded across the drawbridge, the first bridge to be built at the mouth of the river, Levy said. Five hundred cars was quite a lot, given that only 21,371 cars were registered in the state at the time, including 17 in Old Saybrook and 31 in Old Lyme, Levy said.

"Such an array of automobiles had never been seen at one time," The Day wrote on Aug. 25, 1911. "The local and Fenwick cars were most lavishly decorated and in consequence carried off the honors, though there were some pretty effects achieved by others."

One car was painted red, white and blue. It carried a miniature bridge on its roof and had signs that read, "We have got it at last," The Day reported. When the car's wheels gave out and the owner had to haul the car away with a second vehicle, spectators called out, "Have you got it at last?"

The 2011 "repeat" of the 1911 parade of cars will include at least 60 antique cars, some that date as far back as 1910, Levy said. "Chasing Classic Cars," a Discovery Channel show, will film host Wayne Carini at the parade for an episode, Levy said. The show's production company, Essex Television Group, is based in Old Lyme.

The parade will start at 10 a.m. at Old Saybrook Middle School, head to Old Lyme and back, and end up at Saybrook Point, where the cars will be on display until 2 p.m. Antique car enthusiasts with cars from 1976 or earlier can register to participate by visiting www.saybrookhistory.org.

A noontime luncheon at Dock & Dine will include guest speakers U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, Connecticut State Historian Walter W. Woodward and James P. Redeker, acting commissioner of the state Department of Transportation.

The 1911 bridge, which stretched 1,800 feet long and was open to both foot and car traffic, charged tolls that ranged from 5 cents for pedestrians to 38 cents for cars, according to The Day's archives. But the region soon outgrew the drawbridge, which cost $475,000 to build, and in 1948, the first Raymond E. Baldwin Bridge was built.

The bridge was named after the then-governor as a political move by E. Lea Marsh and George A. Maynard, the Old Lyme and Old Saybrook state representatives at the time, Maynard said. George Maynard was Barbara Maynard's father-in-law.

"One of the representatives turned to the other and said, 'Well, I guess we'll get the governor to sign this (bill for a new bridge),'" Maynard said, retelling a story the late George Maynard once told her. "'But how are we going to be sure (it gets signed)?'"

They decided their safest bet was to name it after the governor himself. It worked.

The first Baldwin Bridge opened in December 1948, according to The Day's archives. In 1993, that bridge was replaced by the Baldwin Bridge that still stands today.

j.cho@theday.com

If you go

Who: Old Saybrook Historical Society

What: Celebration of the 100th anniversary of the first bridge between Old Saybrook and Old Lyme

When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Aug. 24

Where: Antique car parade will start on Sheffield Street, head up Main Street to I-95 and over the Raymond E. Baldwin Bridge. Parade will continue in Old Lyme, where it will head down Ferry Road, up Lyme Street and back over the bridge to Old Saybrook. Cars will take exit 1 on Route 9N, head under the bridge on Ferry Road and end at Saybrook Point. Cars will be on display at Saybrook Point until 2 p.m.

What else: A $35 luncheon to commemorate the event will be held at noon at Dock & Dine. Reservations required; seating is limited.

More information: www.saybrookhistory.org