The Boston Bridge in southwestern Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County was officially inaugurated. This cantilever bridge, which crosses the Youghiogheny River, serves as a link between Elizabeth Township and the borough of Versailles. The structure was named after Elizabeth Township’s Boston neighborhood. (That neighborhood, in turn, had been named after the capital city of Massachusetts.)
About 5,000 people attended the Thursday afternoon opening of the Boston Bridge to motor vehicle traffic. As part of this ceremony, Boston neighborhood resident Elizabeth Walter (age 13) cut a red, white, and blue ribbon being held by both Margaret Shelton (age seven) of Versailles and Helen Simpson (age 13) of Lincoln Township in Pennsylvania’s Somerset County. The Boston Bridge was officially declared open by Charles, C. “Buck” McGovern, who served as an Allegheny County commissioner from 1927 to 1935.
Measuring 1,181 feet (360 meters) in length, the Boston Bridge carries Pennsylvania Route 48. In 1989, this structure underwent a rehabilitation in which many of its original features were preserved. The accompanying photo of the bridge was taken in 2013.
Photo Credit: daveynin (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en)
For more information on the Boston Bridge, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Bridge
Transportation History 