The High Street railroad crossing is pictured before the bridge was built in 1906.

The first trolley car arrived in Ipswich on May 1, 1900. It had been expected that the cars would be running long before this time, but several incidents occurred that caused the delay.

One of the delays was the attempt to get the Eastern Railway Co. (now the Boston and Maine) to give permission for the trolley to cross the tracks at the High Street crossing. The railway would never grant that request, so when a car came from Rowley it would have to stop at the railroad crossing. Everybody had to get out and walk across the railroad tracks and board another car for downtown. This crossing was located directly in front of what is now the John Hovey home on High Street.

There was no bridge and the roadway, which is now called the High Street annex, was the original main road. This arrangement was very inconvenient and it wasn't until 1906 that the Street Railway Co. got permission to build a bridge and eliminate the crossing.

The bridge was farther to the right than the present one, and I am not sure if the Street Railway paid the entire bill or if the town or state paid part of it. It was not only a trolley bridge, but a traffic bridge. I can remember it very well.

In order to construct the bridge, several houses had to be moved. One was the brick house on the corner of High and Kimball Avenue. This house originally sat in the gully to the right as you enter Avery Street.

The bridge served until 1930. The trolley line had been abandoned and the traffic had increased so that the bridge was inadequate for the growing amount of auto traffic. The new bridge, which is the present one, was much larger and constructed from cement. The trolley bridge was of wood and steel. Once again a house was moved along with the crossing shanty to Locust Street. This is now the home of Lois Gwinn.

Perhaps it was a good thing the railway would not grant permission for the crossing. Had it been, the original road would still be used with a railway crossing and the bridge would never have been built.

-- HAROLD D. BOWEN