Henderson Crossing Bridge - Rockdale, TX - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

The Henderson Crossing bridge before you once stood over the Brushy Creek 10 miles west of this location near the Gay Hill Community. The Brushy Creek’s origin is near Leander in Williamson County and flows easterly out of Williamson County, near Thorndale, and into Milam County as it flows northeast into the San Gabriel River north of Rockdale. It is believed that the bridge received its name from the Henderson property that it divided at the Brushy Creek crossing location.

The bridge was moved to Skate Park in 2002 after being replaced by a concrete slab bridge in 2001. That bridge is located on County Road 434. The Old bridge was eligible for the National Register until it was removed.

The newly formed Rockdale Men’s Club (Jan. 28, 1901), chaired by Ben Loewenstein, was instrumental in lobbying the Commissioners Court for the bridge’s construction. The Rockdale Messenger newspaper dated Feb. 21, 1901 reads as follows; The County Commissioners Court has granted the bridge across the San Gabriel (error-Brushy) in response to the petition signed by the citizens living across the river and also through the presentation of the citizens of Rockdale showing the great need of the bridge. A subscription of $500 has already been raised by the city to apply to the contract of the bridge, which is estimated to cost $1500.

The Henderson Crossing Bridge was built in 1901 by the George F. King Bridge Company. Its specific design is called a pin connected, Warren Pony Truss bridge and is one of 29 surviving in the state. Its span is 64 feet and with its original approaches was a total of 94 feet in length. Its deck width is 12.1 feet. Three years later, on July 29, 1904, the commissioners approve $535 dollars’ worth of repairs due to damage to the bridge. In 2014 dollars that would be $14,231.00. In 1949, a mature Mr. J.W. Garner presented an interesting talk to the Rockdale Lions Club. It was about his memories of Rockdale prior to 1900. He stated the following, “We had no improved roads; our most popular public road was from Lexington via Davilla to Belton, but this our most used road, had no bridges over the stream, except a rickety old toll bridge at the old Henderson Crossing”.

At least three toll bridges and ferries were in existence in the 1800’s. This is a sample of one such fare as listed in the Commissioner Court Minutes dated June 1, 1875. For each footman 5 cents each, for each horse and rider 10 cents, one horse and buggy 25 cents, two horse carriage 30 cents, two horse wagon 35 cents, four horse wagon 64 cents, wagon and 5 yolk of oxen 75 cents, loose cattle and horses 5 cents per head, sheep, hogs and goats 1 cent per head.

Group that erected the marker: City of Rockdale Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: 200 Pine St. Rockdale, TX USA 76567 URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed

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