Heh. I've been over that bridge. Pretty cool.

CanyonAg77 said:

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This came up in a discussion on the Outdoors Board, and I decided it belonged here.
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Pittsbridge Texas

Quote:

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PITTSBRIDGE, TEXAS. Pittsbridge, also known as Evans Ferry and Pitt's Ferry, was on the west bank of the Brazos River thirteen miles northeast of Caldwell in extreme eastern Burleson County. It sprang up after the Civil War at the site of the first bridge to span the Brazos between Burleson and Brazos counties. A ferry was operated by Charles J. and T. C. Evans below the mouth of the Little Brazos River as early as 1868, when Burleson County extended the Evans Ferry Road to a point on the west bank about three miles downstream from the point where State Highway 21 now crosses the Brazos. A Mr. Pitt was superintendent of this road, which linked the towns of Caldwell and Bryan, and by 1870 Evans Ferry had been renamed Pitt's Ferry. Pitt's Bridge was built at the site of the ferry in 1875. By 1878 the settlement of Pittsbridge, on the western end of the span, had acquired a post office; it was discontinued in 1891. In the early 1890s a number of Italian immigrants reached Burleson County, many of them taking up farming in the Brazos bottomlands, including the Pittsbridge vicinity. The town remained a small agricultural community. The nearby bridge did not long enjoy its status as the county's only bridge on the river; by 1892 a new iron bridge had been constructed a few miles downstream at Jones Bluff, and another opened at Koppe's Ferry in 1908. Pitt's Bridge, a wooden structure, was rendered impassible by flood damage in the early 1890s and again in 1913, 1921, and 1926. In 1933 Pittsbridge had an estimated population of twenty and one business. Estimates remained at this level for decades; in 1967, the last year for which figures were available, the population stood at twenty. The community dwindled rapidly thereafter, and by the early 1970s Pittsbridge had disappeared. As recently as the mid-1980s two piers of Pitt's Bridge could still be seen below the confluence of the Little Brazos from Burleson County Road 227.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Glenna Fourman Brundidge, Brazos County History: Rich Past-Bright Future (Bryan, Texas: Family History Foundation, 1986).

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I'm thinking Pittsbridge must have been near the A&M Annex (old Bryan AFB) at the end of Pitt's Road.

Linkeroonie

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 12/12/2011 10:39p).]

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I'm doing some land research and am trying to draw in a parcel from the early 1900's and came across this post.

Pitts Ferry Rd is referenced in the deed and I take it to now be Pitts Rd. A part of Pitts Rd still exists along the west side of the RELLIS (Riverside) campus off of Kuder Ln. It also seems Pitts Rd ran east into downtown Bryan along what is now 28th St. I was able to pull in historical topo maps that actually show the location of Pitts Bridge and the Pitts Bridge town site. In the image below, I added the current streets along with the RELLIS campus boundary for reference. You can see how much the river has changed course. The topo referenced shows a date of 1956 but I'm guessing it's referencing information much older.

And another image down by FM 60. RELLIS is at the top left, Traditions at the top right, and ASTREC at the bottom.




Here's Koppe Bridge at the bottom of the image with the A&M Farm and ASTREC on the left.

runnrboy said:

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CanyonAg77 said:

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This came up in a discussion on the Outdoors Board, and I decided it belonged here.
.......

Pittsbridge Texas

Quote:

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PITTSBRIDGE, TEXAS. Pittsbridge, also known as Evans Ferry and Pitt's Ferry, was on the west bank of the Brazos River thirteen miles northeast of Caldwell in extreme eastern Burleson County. It sprang up after the Civil War at the site of the first bridge to span the Brazos between Burleson and Brazos counties. A ferry was operated by Charles J. and T. C. Evans below the mouth of the Little Brazos River as early as 1868, when Burleson County extended the Evans Ferry Road to a point on the west bank about three miles downstream from the point where State Highway 21 now crosses the Brazos. A Mr. Pitt was superintendent of this road, which linked the towns of Caldwell and Bryan, and by 1870 Evans Ferry had been renamed Pitt's Ferry. Pitt's Bridge was built at the site of the ferry in 1875. By 1878 the settlement of Pittsbridge, on the western end of the span, had acquired a post office; it was discontinued in 1891. In the early 1890s a number of Italian immigrants reached Burleson County, many of them taking up farming in the Brazos bottomlands, including the Pittsbridge vicinity. The town remained a small agricultural community. The nearby bridge did not long enjoy its status as the county's only bridge on the river; by 1892 a new iron bridge had been constructed a few miles downstream at Jones Bluff, and another opened at Koppe's Ferry in 1908. Pitt's Bridge, a wooden structure, was rendered impassible by flood damage in the early 1890s and again in 1913, 1921, and 1926. In 1933 Pittsbridge had an estimated population of twenty and one business. Estimates remained at this level for decades; in 1967, the last year for which figures were available, the population stood at twenty. The community dwindled rapidly thereafter, and by the early 1970s Pittsbridge had disappeared. As recently as the mid-1980s two piers of Pitt's Bridge could still be seen below the confluence of the Little Brazos from Burleson County Road 227.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Glenna Fourman Brundidge, Brazos County History: Rich Past-Bright Future (Bryan, Texas: Family History Foundation, 1986).

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I'm thinking Pittsbridge must have been near the A&M Annex (old Bryan AFB) at the end of Pitt's Road.

Linkeroonie

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 12/12/2011 10:39p).]

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I'm doing some land research and am trying to draw in a parcel from the early 1900's and came across this post.

Pitts Ferry Rd is referenced in the deed and I take it to now be Pitts Rd. A part of Pitts Rd still exists along the west side of the RELLIS (Riverside) campus off of Kuder Ln. It also seems Pitts Rd ran east into downtown Bryan along what is now 28th St. I was able to pull in historical topo maps that actually show the location of Pitts Bridge and the Pitts Bridge town site. In the image below, I added the current streets along with the RELLIS campus boundary for reference. You can see how much the river has changed course. The topo referenced shows a date of 1956 but I'm guessing it's referencing information much older.

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Somewhat related, below is a photo I have from 1912 of Moseley's ferry at Stone City that crossed the Brazos river 10 miles west of Bryan. Location is in the top left of your first map.