Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge
County Rd. 149 (Berry's Creek Rd.) at Paluxy River, Bluff Dale, TXThe Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge is Erath County's earliest recorded bridge and an example of one of Texas' few remaining suspension bridges.
Built ca. 1895 across the Paluxy River on the present US 377, the Bluff Dale Bridge provided a primary crossing for the people of Erath County en route to Fort Worth. Founded in the 1870s, Bluff Dale's population increased with the establishment of the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railroad line in 1889. The growing community felt an acute need for an all-weather road crossing the Paluxy River. The Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge was the community's first permanent bridge.
When the old SH 10 became US 377, a new and wider bridge was needed and in 1933 a new bridge was constructed across the Paluxy River. The old suspension bridge was left in its original place until 1934. In that year the precinct decided to move the old bridge to a crossing 1 1/2 miles upstream from the original site to provide an all-weather bridge over the well-used ford in the river. The bridge is presently located on Berry Creek Road about 500 yards off US 377 on the west edge of Bluff Dale.
Today, the bridge is still in use. A nearby low-water bridge. was erected four years ago for trucks with heavy loads and for people who do not trust the old bridge's construction.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.