Industrial History: 2026

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

The lock is not labeled in Google Maps, but this one is between #9 and #11.

Hennepin Canal State Park posted
Today's Throwback Thursday shows a newly constructed Lock 10 near Tiskilwa. Taken in 1898.

1890 Walnut Street Bridge over Susquehanna River at Harrisburg, PA

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; HAER)

East Part: (Pedestrians Only): (Satellite)

West Part (Lost): (Satellite)

"Built 1890; Streetcar traffic begins 1894; Rehabilitated in 1911 by Phoenix Bridge Co.; Streetcar traffic ends 1936; Closed 1972 due to damage from Hurricane Agnes; Several spans destroyed by ice jam 1996." [BridgeHunter]

Note how the ice jam shoved some of the piers out of alignment. This photo is before it lost the third span.

HAER PA,22-HARBU,25--1
1. General aerial view of west channel spans, spans 3 and 4 removed, looking east. - Walnut Street Bridge, Spanning Susquehanna River at Walnut Street (State Route 3034), Harrisburg, Dauphin County, PA

And this photo is after it lost the third span.

HAER PA,22-HARBU,25--2
2. General aerial view of west channel spans, spans 3, 4 and 5 removed, looking east.

HistoricBridges
"This bridge is the longest known truss bridge remaining that includes the use of the unique (and historically significant) Phoenix columns. As such it is one of the most important historic bridges in the United States. The bridge is listed as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, one of the highest honors bestowed upon a historic bridge in the United States.... A testament to the utilitarian value of the pin-connected truss bridge, it took just over a single year to erect the entire Walnut Street Bridge, and the bridge was complete by 1890. Despite less automotive equipment available in the late 19th century, pin-connected truss bridges were often erected much more quickly than modern bridges are constructed today because truss bridges could be fabricated at the factory, shipped to the site, and all that had to be done was to put the pieces together....The majority of the Phoenix columns and the unusual associated connection details that give the bridge its character and significance remain intact. Most alterations include welds, added materials, and some replaced tension members."

This shows the missing three spans.

Street View, Sep 2023

The ice flow not only shoved two spans off their piers, it shoved them under the Market Street Bridge.

4:09 video @ 3:08
Walnut Street Bridge collapse, Harrisburg PA 1996

I added the label "metalIron" because this bridge is made with iron, not steel.

"Significance: The Walnut Street Bridge is a representative example of a late nineteenth-century factory-manufactured roadway bridge. The bridge consists of fifteen pin-connected wrought-iron Baltimore type through-truss spans manufactured by the Phoenix Bridge Company, and utilizes that firm's proprietary column design known as the "Phoenix column." The Phoenix Bridge Company made important contributions to bridge design and construction in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century." [HAER_data]

BridgeHunter
Walnut Street Bridge is being built in the background.

BridgeHunter

Michael Forshey posted 15 photos with the comment:

30 years ago today [Jan 20, 2026], flooding on the Susquehanna River took out two spans of the Walnut Street Bridge between City Island & Wormleysburg. A third span would later fall into the river. To this day, this section remains abandoned. It would be too costly to rebuild it.
Built in 1890 by Phoenix Bridge Company.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972
Once used for trolley & vehicular traffic, until Agnes hit in 1972.
Photos taken in December 2025 during the first of two times ice would form on the Susquehanna River that month.

10
[These are remnants of the streetcar tracks on the island. The streetcars ran from 1894 to 1936.]]

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Blackstone Canal between Providence, RI, and Worcester, MA, and Old Slater Mill

Old Slater Mill: (Satellite) Additional satellite information is in the body of these notes.

8 [This is from the following post]

David Lawlor posted eight images with the comment:

The Blackstone Canal once connected Providence to Worcester in the early 1800s. This 46 mile waterway moved raw materials and finished goods and helped power the American Industrial Revolution, with 48 locks along the way. When the railroad arrived, the canal faded fast, closing roughly twenty years later.
This aerial looks down over Roger Williams National Memorial, where traces of that canal still quietly exist. Preserved in pieces. Neglected in others. Still full of beauty and mystery if you know where to look. Swipe to see more history!
Start here. Then follow the water north to Slater Mill. This history is still out there, waiting to be walked.

David Lawlor: 🎞 Follow for Rhode Island Files — stories of history, art, and everyday life through my lens. This is Rhode Island the way I see it. https://www.facebook.com/DavidLawlorFilmm.../subscribenow...

Thomas Attila Lewis: Massachusetts needs to come through on its pledge to complete the paved trail down to connect with the Rhode Island section because RI delivered the goods.

1 [Satellite, the "bridge" near the center of the photo. Note that the street next to the Moshassuck River is named Canal St.]

2 [Satellite]

3 [Satellite]

5 [Satellite?]

Veronica Vega commented on David's post
Me and Zeus exploring a canal lock off the bike trail in Blackstone last year!
[Millville Lock?, Satellite]

It is important that Veronica above went when the leaves were off the vegetation.

George Lloyd, Dec 2023

AmericanCanalSociety_talk, p49

AmericanCanalSociety_map

lll

AmericanCanalSociety_talk, p4
[For comparison, the Original Erie Canal locks, which were built 1817-25, were 90' x 15'.]

This canal closed before some canals in the Midwest even opened. That early closure explains why I could not find the canal on an 1894 topo map.

AmericanCanalSociety_talk, p5

hmdb, Satellite

CSX/NYC Bridge over Black River in Grafton, OH

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Marm Farm posted seven photos with the comment: "(railroad bridge) Grafton, Ohio."

RailPictures, 2008 photo by Patch Lynch

1917,1939,2017 Relocated US-66 Bridge over Little Colorado River near Winslow, AZ

Original: (Satellite)

Current: (Satellite)

US-66 Overview

John Gerald Jimenez posted two photos with the comment: "This Bridge use to be located on Route 66 just East of Winslow Arizona. You can find it South of Holbrook on the old Snowflake/Woodruff road."

Heather Davidson Friel commented on John's post
After having some amazing fry bread breakfast tacos at Tom & Susie’s Diner, my husband and I took a very scenic drive down to check out this gorgeous bridge. We were the only ones on the road. The area around the bridge was absolutely beautiful!