|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Ewing Narrows Bridge was dedicated on July 10, 1976. Fifty years later, in 2026, many of us take the bridge for granted. But its completion was never a sure thing. In fact, it came about only through citizen advocacy, a spirit of volunteerism, and persistence on the part of Harpswell’s leaders — especially Malcolm “Laddie” Whidden, of Harpswell Neck, and Edward Johnson, of Bailey Island. It also benefited a good bit from what today is known as “networking,” or the making and working of contacts in the right places.
In the early 1900s, a short boat ride across Harpswell Sound or Merriconeag Sound connected the various parts of Harpswell, socially and economically. For shopping, Harpswellians often took the ferry to Portland rather than endure rough, unpaved roads to reach stores in Brunswick and Bath.
As the use of automobiles grew and the roads to Brunswick were paved and improved, residents’ attention increasingly turned toward Brunswick for shopping and social activities, and contacts among the parts of Harpswell decreased. This led to occasional calls for the separation of Harpswell Neck and the islands into two different towns. Although proposed more than once at Town Meeting and as recently as 1961, the idea was voted down every time.
Workers and family members from one side of town spent many hours reaching the other side via Brunswick. When the U.S. Navy extended the runway of the Brunswick Naval Air Station in 1949, it blocked a shortcut between the two sides of Harpswell at Dyer Corner, and the trip took even longer. Before the bridge, it took at least 55 minutes and 31.8 miles of driving to go from Potts Point, at the southern tip of the Neck, to Land’s End, on Bailey Island, even though those locations are only 1.5 miles apart by water. Cundy’s Harbor was even farther away from the Neck via Brunswick.
Before the bridge was built, there was a decent road from Route 123, where Corner Market is now, to Wharf Road on the Neck side of Ewing Narrows. On the Great Island side, there was only a steep and circuitous dirt road heading west from Route 24 a few miles north of where Mountain Road would be built. It dead-ended at a gravel pit.
In the mid-1960s, community members led first and foremost by Selectman Malcolm B. “Laddie” Whidden, and soon also by Selectman Edward Johnson, began advocating for a bridge across Ewing Narrows to reduce travel time and expense, better connect all parts of Harpswell, and encourage a sense of unity. They worked with Maine Department of Transportation Commissioner David Stevens to win approval from the Maine State Legislature, find funding, and obtain permits.
The bridge was Whidden’s dream. According to Johnson’s daughter Beth York, her father took the lead in discussions with Stevens because Whidden and Stevens had fallen out over the felling of an ancient oak tree blocking expansion of Route 123. After persistent lobbying, Stevens promised to provide state aid for the construction of a bridge — but only if the town built a good access road on both sides of the Narrows.
While some in Harpswell were against a bridge because of the cost or because they favored separation, a vote at Town Meeting in 1968 approved the project and raised $6,000 to clear the land and install a culvert at Strawberry Creek. With that, the people of Harpswell began to organize to build a new road from Route 24 to the Narrows.
The land between Route 24 and the Narrows, across Long Reach Mountain, was owned by eight to 10 people. Some initially did not support the project, but they were eventually persuaded. With one exception, they donated the land for the right of way. This made good business sense for them because the bridge would provide access to their land and raise its value.
About 60 people volunteered to clear the land. Friends and relatives supplied meals and coffee to fuel their work. It took three to four days to rough-clear three possible routes through the forest between Route 24 and Strawberry Creek. State officials later chose the final route.
Lewis Stuart, a contractor from Cundy’s Harbor, won a bid of $25,000 to finish the road. He provided an excavator and gravel; volunteers helped remove stumps from the road. The townspeople worked without compensation because they saw value in the bridge and wanted the project to succeed.
Once the road was completed, Stevens proved to be a man of his word, and the state funded the construction of the bridge. In 1971, the Legislature approved $300,000 to build the bridge and the town approved $53,900. According to Johnson, Harpswell’s cost amounted to a $2 increase in property taxes. A 2016 article in the Harpswell Anchor quoted both Johnson and Whidden as saying that Stevens’ role was crucial, and the bridge would not have been built without his support.
The 675-foot-long bridge was dedicated on Saturday, July 10, 1976, in a ceremony that marked the end of a 10-year project. It now takes only 30 minutes to drive the 17 miles from Potts Point to Land’s End, basically cutting the trip in half. The bridge enables students from all over Harpswell to attend the same school, thereby creating lifelong friendships throughout the town. With the bridge, Harpswell now enjoys a single central location for its Town Office, a community television station, and its Recycling Center and Transfer Station. In fact, “the dump” is viewed by many as a good place to run into friends from all parts of Harpswell.
At the time of the 40th anniversary of the bridge’s dedication in 2016, Whidden told the Anchor that he saw “a lot more people interacting with people on the other side,” and Johnson observed that the bridge “made the town.”
As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we are proud to recognize the accomplishment of Harpswell’s citizens in building the bridge. In 1776, with the goal of independence in mind but few resources, our forebears drew on personal relationships and banded together because they believed in the right of Americans to be free of British control. Like our forebears, the citizens of Harpswell overcame their differences, gathered scarce resources, worked their personal relationships and connections, and successfully advocated for something they believed in. Few would dispute the fact that the completion of the bridge has brought Harpswell closer together in every way.
With thanks for contributions from the Whidden and Johnson families, David Hackett, Sam Alexander, Kara Douglas, and the Harpswell Historical Society.
Rob Porter is a board member of the Harpswell Historical Society. His family ties to Maine go back at least 225 years.
