I would like to ask for help in a historical mystery. I am trying to find out more about when and how the footbridge over the railroad tracks from Lakeside Avenue to the Winnipesaukee Marketplace (former Lakeside House/Hotel) was constructed. Was it built on the spot or transported in sections from elsewhere? It certainly is a major landmark of Weirs Beach that has not previously attracted any historical attention. It is not in Warren Huse's book "The Weirs", and it is not on any historic postcard that I've seen.
As a starting point, McDude's post of the Lakeside House
here shows a postmark date of 1919, and on that postcard, there is no bridge, so I would deduce the bridge was put up in the 1920s, or later.
Addendum #1: In a private email, Senter Cove Guy just wrote me :
"If you look again at McDude's postcard, you'll see where it says, "Come Over The New Bridge". Seems to indicate the bridge was just built."
Reply: I'm not sure if the "Come Over the New Bridge" ad refers to the footbridge. It might refer instead to the wooden bridge to Centenary Ave that carries vehicles, and that also has a pedestrian sidewalk separated by a wooden beam, that is located behind the Weirs Beach General Store, just a few feet up Lakeside Ave from the footbridge. This raises additional questions:
1) When was the wooden bridge built?
2) What is the date of the ad that accompanies McDude's postcard?
3)When did Edward T. Milton own the Lakeside House? Did he own it before or after George W. Weeks (for whom Weeks St., the street where the building is located, was obviously named) owned it?
McDudes postcard
here indicates it was owned by Weeks in 1912. Rattlesnake Gal's postcard
here indicates it was owned by Weeks in 1892.
To answer my own question, it would seem that Milton owned it after Weeks, and that the ad probably does refer to the footbridge. Old photos of Weirs Beach (see Warren Huse's "The Weirs" p. 35, p.70-top) show the wooden bridge was there as early as circa 1880.
However, the exact year and method of construction still remain to be solved.
Addendum #2: McDude just informed me that the ad "Come Over the New Bridge" was clipped from a recent copy of the Weirs Times. Where the Weirs Times got it from, who knows?