Before the Roosevelt Expressway was built, what structure was there that connected East Falls to the suburbs. I know a bridge was built where the current highway interchange is now, and I also have seen that a little reservoir or lake that was at the terminus of this bride, on the Philly side.

See this bridge, in an old philly trolley map (circa 1944?)



Questions:

What was the bridge?
Was it like Falls Bridge?
Do you have any pictures of this?
How did they handle the steep grade from City Avenue to the river?

Also, why is Manayunk on the west side of the river? Isn't that Belmont Hills?

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fotographia

Perhaps the map was cut off on that scan and "Manayunk" was the last part of "West Manayunk" (which that area was once referred to as).

I think that you're right. There's a floating "T" that curves in the opposite direction of "MANAYUNK" just above it.

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Fascinating map ...... thanks. The only question is why
my ancestors forgot to buy .. buy ... buy?


Joel

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Gustine Lake was a very large and popular city-run swimming pool. I went there quite a few times as a child in the early 1950s. The bridge was not at all like Falls Bridge. As I remember, it was an ordinary fairly modern one, wide and high-level, probably with a slight slope from the west bank to the east. (In fact, it might be the same bridge that is there today, with some reconstruction.) The road interchange on the east bank is, of course, all new. I was disappointed when the roadways were built because they sacrificed a large swath of the park and the riverbank, and essentially isolated the mouth of Wissahickon Creek from the rest of the park.
I was interested, however, in many other things on your 1944 map. For example, it shows the route of the Fairmount Park Trolley, which went over the Strawberry Mansion Bridge to Woodside Amusement Park. Unfortunately, 1944 was the last year that the trolley was in service.

Nanyika

I'm curious about the "foot toll bridge" shown crossing the Schuylkill near West Laurel Hill Cemetary. Does that bridge still exist? I know I've passed by a bridge in that vicinity that has Georgia Pacific signs on it and is closed to the public - is that the same bridge?

Also, something I've always wondered about: when did "City Line Ave" become "City Ave"? I still hear people say City Line to this day.

I think a few years ago when they where trying to spruce up that area they tried to drop the "line" so as to not delineate between Overbrook/ Wynnefield and the Main Line.

Has anyone every heard the term the Golden Mile used for City Line?

I think, as far as Lower Merion is concerned, it is still "City Line" (says so on their signs). Philadelphia calls it "City Ave." It probably started as an abbreviation. The way I see it, the two eastbound lanes are "City Ave." and the two westbound lanes are "City Line Ave.".

BTW - on older maps you'll see Cheltenham Ave. also listed as "City Line Ave."

As to why West Manayunk became Belmont Hills, someone else on the blog has this in more detail, see the lowermerionhistory site which is where this is from:


Belmont Hills The community that today covers "the Hill" is roughly triangular in shape--the three angles pointing north, east, and west. The northeast side overlooks the Schuylkill River, and the northwest side joins Penn Valley; the southern base of the triangle is the rocky cliff above Gulley Run and Rock Hill Road. For years the cluster of houses on the big river bluff opposite the Manayunk section of Philadelphia had no official name and was linked with the city side of the Schuylkill River by the Green Lane Bridge, rebuilt several times since 1833 and more commonly called the Belmont Avenue Bridge in 1980. The town was referred to as Goat Hill, or the Heights, and finally as West Manayunk, the Indian word manaiung meaning "here is where we drink." In 1953 the new name, Belmont Hills, was chosen after resentment flared over unkind references to "West Manayunk" by author James Michener in an article published in Holiday magazine (April 1950).